Making A Move
by passions-spent
Summary: AU: Rory Hayden makes the point to never become attached due to her moving around the country because of her father's job. What happens when she starts Chilton and meets Tristan Dugrey?
1. Prologue

"Hey! Where does this go?"

Rory made a vague gesture with her hand towards the half-empty living room and walked out the front door, ignoring the exasperated sigh of the mover behind her. She had spent the last hour in her new room trying to organize everything the way she wanted it and now she was tired and wanted to rest outside for a moment. It was a clear spring day, perfect for moving into her new home. Rory and her father had moved from house to house, city to city, countless times and so she knew that it was lucky that at least the weather was cooperating; there would be enough hassles as it is.

"Hey kiddo!" Rory turned to see her father walking out of the door behind her, wiping his hands on his already dirty jeans. "We're almost done here; just a little longer to get everything sorted out."

Rory smiled, knowing that even once they got everything sorted out and organized it was only a matter of time before they would be packing everything back up, ready to move on to the next city. Chris and Rory Hayden had their routine down and could pack up their entire house in a record of four hours. Like most things, it all came with practice and they had a lot of that.

"Good," she half moaned, dramatically flinging out her arm in front of her and putting a hand on her forehead. "I'm exhausted. Moving takes so much out of me."

"Yeah, I can see that. You've really been putting a lot of effort in, the movers have nothing on you," he replied sarcastically. He paused for a moment. "We'll order in tonight, find the best Chinese food in the area."

"What, the cook's not here yet?"

Chris glared for a moment before nodding, knowing as well as Rory did that the two of them were completely hopeless at cooking and relied completely on hired help and take-out. Rory had learned how to make the basics at St. Mary's School for Girls, but she was there for less than six months and there was only so many times that you could make scrambled eggs and pasta before you got tired of them.

"Alright then, I'm going to go pay these guys and then we'll see about food."

He clapped a hand on Rory's shoulder before turning and walking back into the house, already exclaiming over something that wasn't done properly. Rory sighed, watching him go, knowing that soon they would be in a different town, at a different house, ordering around different movers. It was the same routine every time. From an early age she had learned that everything was temporary and nothing stayed the same.

They had only been living in Seattle for four months when Chris had announced that there was an amazing job opportunity available in Hartford. Rory had sighed, already used to this routine, this scramble to find the perfect job in the perfect place that would lead to living the perfect life.

"This time we're staying there. This is it." He had said as he did every time he announced that they were moving, wrapping an affectionate arm around his daughter.

"Yup, this is it," she replied as always, forever the dutiful daughter.

And that was it. Within a week the arrangements had been made and their life had been packed into the cardboard boxes that they always kept in storage, just in case. They had arrived in Hartford to find a relatively sized house with a huge swimming pool in the backyard. As houses go, it wasn't bad compared to some of the others they had lived in but as for the people, well they would have to see.

Rory had two days to herself, two whole days to organize and reevaluate all of her possessions before she was expected to make an appearance at Chilton Academy. She spent her time reading, arranging her room and making adjustments to her vast collection of clothing. The promised emails were sent off to old friends in Seattle, informing them that she had arrived safely and missed them. This wasn't true as Rory had learned from a young age that missing people meant being attached and therefore she never became attached. The only people that she was really close to were her father, his parents and her best friend, as they were the only constants in her life.

She did have friends, enemies and acquaintances from almost every school that she had gone to, but eventually contact stopped and life moved on. Relationships, if any, were kept casual as to avoid the heartbreak that would inevitably come once her father found a new, better, more improved place to live.

It had been like this for as long as she could remember. Her mom had taken off soon after giving birth and was rarely heard from, last Rory had heard she had married and was with child. It hurt sometimes, knowing that her mother didn't want her and had a new son or daughter to dote upon like she had never done for Rory. Her father had raised her, forgoing after school activities and going out with his friends to look after his daughter at the young age of sixteen. When college came upon them, he decided to go to Yale as it was closest and he had left Rory with his parents, returning constantly to check up on her.

From when she was about six to now at the age of seventeen, it was just the two of them against the world. Rory adored her grandparents but with them moving around constantly for Chris' job, she didn't get to see them very often except on holidays. It was at a boarding school that she had only attended for two months that she met her best friend Logan.

Logan appeared to be her male counterpart and they hit it off right away. As both of them moved around a lot, Logan because of his habit of getting kicked out of all the schools that his father sent him to, the two of them decided that friendship was ideal and they stuck to it. Four years later, they still emailed and phoned weekly, eager to have someone else to talk to who understood.

On the eve of her first day of Chilton, Rory went to bed early, hoping to have a good night sleep before entering her new school. All the high schools that she had attended had been generally the same; different people, different teachers, same attitude and same overall expectations.

She could hear her father moving around downstairs, getting ready for his new job the next day. Rory knew that he was optimistic that this would be the last stop, their home for the rest of her schooling. Even though she was doubtful, she put on a hopeful face for her father, thinking maybe this time it would stick, maybe this time it would actually be forever.

Rory scoffed inwardly, admitting to herself that that was a lie, before rolling over and pressing her face into her pillow. She wasn't nervous, going to a new school was all part of her yearly routine and she had had that routine down for years.


	2. Declaring Anarchy

AN: Thanks for all the reviews, they mean a lot! To answer your questions, this will be a trory but it will take a while to get there. Hope you enjoy this chapter!

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Rory walked into the building like she owned it, as if she belonged there, something she had learned how to do from a young age. Her father ambled along beside her, reminiscing about his old days at Chilton and the great times that he had had there. Rory knew that when he mentioned this, he was thinking about her mom and the circumstances surrounding her birth, but she chose to remain oblivious and act like he was talking about parties and friends.

After years of changing schools, Rory knew how to fit in. Her skirt was rolled up enough so that it showed a little thigh, but not high enough to look tacky. She wore the white blouse with the sleeves rolled up to her elbows and was carrying her thin, navy sweater. She had replaced the knee-high socks with fishnet stockings and was wearing her hair down and minimal make-up. Today was all about first impressions, and Hayden's always impressed.

Ignoring the stares from the plaid adorned students, Chris and Rory made their way towards the Headmaster's office after getting directions from a passing teacher. Chris straightened his tie and jacket nervously as they made their way down the stairs, uneasily remembering all the times that he had spent in that same office for reasons other than administrative details.

"Ready for this, Ror?" He grinned, smirking slightly as he gazed down at his daughter, ignoring the fact that his nerves were showing more than hers.

"I was born ready." She smirked, tossing her head arrogantly.

"Wow, talk about being corny and cliché."

"I try."

They laughed, even though it wasn't all that funny, eager to disperse the tension that had somehow gathered as they made their way through the halls. Soon they reached the door that had a bronze plaque reading 'Headmaster Charleston's Office' on it.

"I wonder whether the first Headmaster was named Charleston and then the rest of them were too lazy to change the plaque so they changed their name instead," Chris whispered to his daughter as they stood outside of the wooden door.

Rory swatted her father's arm whispering, "Shhh," and giggling.

The tension now dissolved, she reached for the door handle and twisted it, wincing as the door creaked. She stepped inside, seeing only a desk, some chairs and an old lady typing on a type-writer behind the desk. Exchanging a weary look with Chris who had walked in after her, the two of them stepped so that they were in front of the desk.

"Hi?" Chris half asked after a moment of silence where the lady didn't look up. He cleared his throat before plowing on. "I'm Christopher Hayden and this is my daughter Lorelai. We're here to see the Headmaster for my daughter's registration."

The lady finally looked up from what she was typing and scowled, waving a hand towards the door behind the father-daughter duo impatiently.

"Yes, yes I know. The Headmaster will see you now, go on in."

Chris and Rory looked at each other and, as one, turned towards the door behind them. They had not even taken a step before the typing resumed.

"Not very welcoming here are they?" Rory asked her voice low.

Chris rolled his eyes. "This is Chilton. This school was designed to intimidate people"

They opened the door to the Headmaster's office and were not surprised to see him sitting behind a grand desk looking regal. He rose as they entered and spread his hands in a welcoming gesture.

"Christopher Hayden, it has been years." He paused but before Chris could say anything he continued. "And this must be young Lorelai, the newest addition to our school."

Rory resisted the urge to roll her eyes at the obvious statement and settled on smiling sweetly at the man in front of her. Once the introductions were done, her father was dismissed, leaving her with a pat on the back and a "knock 'em dead, kiddo."

"Now let's see here Ms Hayden. According to your records, you have attended 11 schools since grade eight and you have gotten expelled from three of them. Care to explain?"

Rory shrugged. "We move around a lot."

"I see and being expelled was a mistake, I assume?"

"There were misunderstandings, yes." Her smile was so sweet it was rotting her teeth.

"Hmmm," his tone was doubtful and disapproving. He continued to go over her academic records and past accomplishments. Eventually he looked up from his paper and leaned back in his seat, folding his hands.

"We at Chilton do not accept misbehavior or disrespect, Ms Hayden. I understand that you have a prominent last name and know that you have become accustomed to getting what you want because of it, but know that that is not the way that things work here at Chilton. Chilton runs on academic achievement and overall excellence. You will get no special treatment. Understood?"

She nodded her head because it was expected, although both she and the Headmaster knew that those who came from "good" families got away with a lot more than those who were there on scholarship. That was the way that the world worked and, therefore, was the way that Chilton worked.

It seemed like hours later that she was dismissed from Headmaster Charleston's office, although by looking at the clock it had only been twenty minutes. After a quick visit to the administrative office, she had her schedule, locker number, words to the school song and her student number clutched in her hand. She looked at the clock hanging on the wall and at all the students milling around and realized that she had a good 15 minutes before she was expected at her first class. She wandered down the hall, intent on finding her locker before class began.

Glaring at the piece of paper with her locker number written on it, she surveyed the lockers in front of her and concluded that her locker was not among them. Moving on to the next row, she realized that if she didn't find her locker soon she would have to go straight to her first class becauseshe would have to find it first.

"Looking for something?" This came from a guy a little taller than Rory with dark hair and dark eyes.

Rory didn't say anything, merely held the piece of paper up so he could read it.

"Oh," he smirked. "So you're new here?"

"Nope," she replied deadpan. "I've been here every year since grade eight but you've never seen me before and I'm so stupid that I forgot how to get to my locker."

He stared at her a moment before laughing. "Stupid questions get stupid answers, I suppose. Anyway, your locker is next to my girlfriend's. I'll show you."

Rory genuinely smiled before saying, "Thanks, I appreciate it. I'm Rory by the way."

"Alex," he tossed over his shoulder, already heading down the hall. "Now c'mon you don't want to be late on your first day." He paused. "Well actually you might, it would make the day go by quicker."

She shook her head and followed him down the hall, ignoring the curious looks that were being thrown her way. After being the new girl so many times in her life she had learned to ignore it and go with the flow.

Finally Alex came to a stop in front of a row of lockers and gestured towards one.

"This is it. I'd love to stay but you know how it is; people to see, things to do."

Rory smirked, "Are you sure it's not the opposite?" She paused then continued without waiting for a response. "Thanks."

"No problem, good deed for the day and all that," he smirked and took off down the hall, stopping to whisper something in a blonde's ear. She turned and looked down the hall at Rory who was trying to open her locking without having much success.

She arrived to see Rory cursing the locker and promising it eternal damnation if it didn't open.

"Having difficulties?" She smirked at Rory who grunted in surprise as the locker finally swung open.

"Not anymore," she replied, piling her books into the metal compartment, keeping one out for her first class.

"I'm Abby," the mysterious girl said. "Alex told me that you might need help with getting to class and stuff and since my locker is right beside yours, I figured it would be convenient."

"Rory and you're Alex's girlfriend?"

"Going on two months. Anyway, you have…" She paused for a moment to look at the schedule that Rory handed her. "English. Okay you go that way and to the left and it'll be the second door on your right." She pointed down the hall, her bracelets clinking together with every move.

"Okay, thanks," Rory said, gathering up her notebook and heading off down the hall, aware that the bell was about to go any minute.

She arrived at her class with a moment to spare and was mildly surprised at the amount of students already in their seats. Handing the teacher the note that she had received from the secretary, she stayed standing at the front of the class, well aware that all eyes were on her. Finally the bell rang and the last students scrambled in and took their seats. The teacher, who introduced herself to Rory as Mrs. Marks moved to stand in front of the class.

"Okay, okay settle down." There was no need to say this as everyone in the room was completely focused on the new girl in front of them. "We have a new student today. Her name is Lorelai Hayden and I expect that each of you will make her feel welcome."

The boys smirked at this, while the girls rolled their eyes.

"Now," Mrs. Marks continued, oblivious, "is there anything you would like to tell us about yourself, Ms Hayden? This will count as an oral mark for talking in front of the class."

Rory sighed at this. She hated these stupid 'explain your life story to a bunch of people who don't care' things.

"Okay, my name is Lorelai Hayden but I go by Rory. I just moved here from Seattle and before that I lived in California."

"Anything else?" The teacher frowned.

Rory shrugged. "Nope."

"Very well then, sit down."

Rory appraised the class until she found an empty sit, which she gracefully slid into. Opening her notebook, she positioned her pen over her paper, acting like she was about to take notes and reveled in the scowl that a girl sitting nearby sent to her after the teacher gave her a pleased smile.

Before she knew it, class was over and she was making her way out the door, empty notebook in hand. She had spent the majority of class contemplating life in general and then she moved onto worrying about Logan. He seemed to be close to getting expelled again and his father would not be happy.

She was so deep in thought that she was surprised when the girl who had scowled at her in class was suddenly in her face.

"Give some warning next time," Rory complained sourly.

"Are you going out for the school paper?" The girl asked, ignoring Rory. "Because I'm the editor this year and we don't need you."

Rory smirked. "Shucks and there go all of my plans 'cause you know that it was my goal this morning to declare anarchy and kick the editor of the school paper to the curb. But you caught me just in time. Shame really, all my plans down the drain." She paused a moment, sighing dramatically. "If you'll excuse me."

She flounced down the hall, laughing inwardly at the look on the girl's face. Maybe this school wouldn't be so bad after all.


	3. Introductions and Cell Phones

AN: Thanks for all the reviews, they really mean a lot! To answer some questions: Yes Logan will eventually make an appearance but as a friend not a love interest. Colin and Finn will not be in the story at all (I don't think). If you have any other questions, leave them in your review and I will try to answer them. This chapter's kind of short but I hope that you like it anyway! Thanks!

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Rory was regretting ever coming to Chilton by the time she reached lunch. All of her teachers made her introduce herself to the class which she could handle, but the work was quickly piling up. She had hours and hours of missed assignments to catch up on, and little to no time to do it. Sighing, she chose to ignore her problems for the moment and concentrate on eating lunch.

Stopping at her locker to pick up her home-made lunch on her way to the cafeteria, she was surprised to see two people making out against her locker, neither looking like they were going to come up for air anytime soon.

Rory cleared her throat. Mildly insulted when she was ignored, she cleared it again and when she got no response she snapped, "Get the hell off of my locker now or I swear to God you'll regret it."

The two people separated slowly and she was met with Abby and Alex's smirking faces.

"Wow, you're bitchy when you're hungry," Alex said, clearly taking pleasure from Rory's annoyance.

"And after everything we've done for you!" Abby added, smiling sarcastically. "I'm hurt."

Rory rolled her eyes, already knowing that these two weren't going to be leaving anytime soon. She opened her locker, deposited her still empty notebook, picked up her sandwich, and slammed the locker door shut harder than necessary. When she turned around, she wasn't surprised to see that both Alex and Abby were standing there grinning at her and that she had attracted the attention of the majority of the hall when she had shut her locker.

"C'mon, we'll show you to the cafeteria," Abby said cheerfully, grabbing Rory's wrist.

"Thanks," Rory replied, somewhat suspiciously.

"You're our good deed for the day," Alex explained, catching on to Rory's tone. "We decided that showing the new girl around the school would cancel out all of the naughty things that we've done and stop us from going to hell."

He and Abby laughed at the look on Rory's face and pulled her through the halls until they reached the cafeteria.

"Sit with us," Abby demanded. She paused and widened her eyes pathetically. "Please."

Rory smirked. "Well," she drew out the word for a moment, reveling in the chance to be back in control. "I suppose, if I must."

She flipped her hair arrogantly and laughed when Alex imitated her. Following Alex and Abby to a half full table, she flopped down in a seat, taking a moment to recharge. When she looked up the entire table was staring at her, minus Alex and Abby who were eating their lunch and talking quietly.

"Hi," Rory grinned, back in her element. "I'm Rory."

She received numerous greetings and introductions in return. Knowing that she would never remember everyone's name, she instead concentrated on memorizing their faces, knowing that it would come in handy to be able to recognize some of these people in her classes.

"Oh don't bother with them, Ror. They're losers," Abby cut in, smirking when everybody protested. "You don't mind that I call you Ror, do you? It's easier."

Rory shrugged. "Sure, whatever." There was a pause where Rory opened her mouth to speak when there came a voice from over her shoulder.

"We haven't been introduced."

She turned around and saw a boy about her age. He was tall and good-looking with blond hair and blue eyes. He was leering at Rory and had an arrogant look on his face. Good-looking was one thing but knowing it was another. Rory's thoughts immediately jumped to Logan.

"I'm Tristan Dugrey," he said, leaning over and speaking close to Rory's ear. "And I know who you are Lorelai Leigh Hayden."

Rory rolled her eyes. "Smooth, I give you points for the whole knowing my middle name thing, although I realize that you were in my biology class and the teacher introduced me using my full name. However since I'm in a good mood I'll let you keep those points and not minus you any for being stalkerish. On the other hand, the whole introduction was rather cliché so you lose marks for that." She paused; taking in Tristan's shocked expression, before getting up and patting him on the shoulder. "Try harder next time."

With that she stood up, carried her lunch wrappings over to the garbage can before leaving the cafeteria and a shocked group of students behind.

It was during Rory's last class of the day, so close to freedom, that her cell phone went off, effectively cutting off the teacher's rant on the student's general lack of respect and catching the attention of the entire class. Cursing under her breath, Rory concentrated on looking innocent; desperately wishing that whoever was calling would get a clue and hang up before she got in trouble. Getting in trouble usually didn't bother her but there was something about being signaled out for misbehaving on her first day that seemed wrong to her.

"Cell phones aren't allowed in class," the teacher snapped. "Whose phone is that?"

The class remained silent, Rory regretting that she hadn't remembered to change the ringer to vibrate.

"Well, where is that infernal racket coming from? Zero respect, people, zero respect! This is a classroom, and cell phones are not tolerated in classes here at Chilton!"

Rory was getting annoyed by the constant reminders that they were currently at Chilton; if you didn't know that by now, you really shouldn't have been there at all.

The ringing continued as the teacher surveyed the room, beady eyes examining the classroom, until they finally landed on Rory. Stepping forward until he was standing in front of her desk, he held out a hand.

"Phone, Ms Hayden."

Her eyes widened as though she was confused and she tried to look as not guilty as possible. She'd had a lot of experience in getting out of trouble, it came from being friends with Logan but for some reason it didn't seem like it would work this time.

"I don't know what you're talking about."

There were giggles coming from the corner until the teacher whirled around and glared, and they stopped abruptly.

"You have one last chance, Ms Hayden. Hand that phone over now. You do not want to begin your career at Chilton with detention."

Rory sighed, dropping the act and leaned over, reaching into her bag to fish out her cell phone. The ringing noise grew louder as it was brought out of her purse, and she chanced a look at the caller id as she handed it to the teacher. _Logan._ It just keeps getter better and better.

"How do you turn this thing off?" The teacher asked, gazing at the sleek, silver device that he held in the palm of his hand as if it were a foreign object.

"Sir, with all due respect- ."

"With all due respect, Ms Hayden, how do you turn off this phone?"

Rory sighed, knowing that there was no way she was getting out of this mess unscarred.

"You just open it and press end."

The teacher smirked victoriously, flipping open the phone and gazing at it. His eyes traced all the buttons before they found the end key and he pressed it.

He closed the phone slowly and triumphantly before he held it out to Rory.

"There, much better" he commented dryly, pulling the phone away from Rory's grasping hands and sliding it into his pocket. "Detention, Ms Hayden. You'll have this returned to you at the end."

"Yes, sir," Rory mumbled darkly, plotting ways of revenge in her head.

"Good, now as I was saying before we were rudely interrupted…"

An hour after her expected arrival, Rory Hayden wearily trudged into her home, cursing the day that she had bought a cell phone, started Chilton and befriended Logan. Detention wasn't so bad; it was just the principle of it. Rory prided herself in the ability to manipulate the teachers into thinking that she was a good, studious student and it irritated her that the illusion was already ruined with one teacher. She knew that if one teacher knew, soon they would all know and the remainder of her time at Chilton would be spent working hard, trying to get back in their good graces.

Slamming the front door and tossing her backpack to the side, she made her way to the kitchen, knowing that that was where she would find her father. It was a tradition dating back to the early years for the two of them to spend the afternoon together after Rory's first day at a new school, talking about each other's day. As she made her way down the hall, she detected the smell of pizza and smiled for the first time since lunch.

"Hey," Chris said, looking up from the newspaper that he had been immersed in and pushing it to the side. "I know it's early, but I picked up pizza on the way home from work."

"Thank God. I'm starving," Rory replied, already opening the cardboard box and breathing in the delicious aroma.

"So how was your first day, kiddo?" He paused for a minute and then added sarcastically, "Is Chilton as fun as I remember it?"

Rory groaned through a mouthful of food. "You have no idea."


	4. Conversations and Invites

AN: You guys are awesome, thanks so much for all the reviews! I'm really sorry that this chapter is so pathetic and short but I promise that the next one will be more interesting and longer! Hope you like (okay at least put up with) this chapter!

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It was at the end of the week that Rory came into contact with Tristan Dugrey again. Rushing to her locker after sleeping past her alarm and arriving at school late, she was not in the mood to talk, socialize or do anything past dozing in her desk. Therefore, it was not a smiling face that greeted Tristan when he sauntered over to her locker.

Cramming her books into her already overflowing locker, Rory turned when she felt someone's warm breath on the back of her neck.

"What?' She snapped irritably. She looked behind her and sighed. "Oh, it's you."

"You sound surprised. You did promise me a next time."

"Excuse me? I don't know you. I've talked to you all of once."

"Yes and I believe that it was during our delightful conversation that you told me to 'try harder next time.' Believe me; I could have taken that so many other ways than how I did." He smirked as Rory tried once more to close her locker and it bounced back open.

Finally managing to close the locker, Rory turned and smiled sarcastically at Tristan. "Wow, I'm so honored that you memorize our conversations. Don't I feel special?"

She turned to walk down the empty hall, already late for her first class of the day. Hearing footsteps quicken behind her, she wasn't surprised when Tristan feel into step beside her.

"Well I'd love to stay and chat," he started, "but I have to get to class." He paused. "Although there are other more interesting things we could be up to." He smiled wickedly before frowning at the look on her face and he continued. "No? Well then. We should… chat again soon." He leered.

Rory took a step forward, invading his space and looking up at him. She trailed a figure across his chest and leaned in to whisper in his ear. "Definitely."

She pulled back and, grinning at the look on his face, took off down the hall. Turning the opposite way down the hall than where her class was located, deciding that it was too late to go without it becoming embarrassing for her, she made her way out the door and into the fresh air.

Finally finding an out of the way corner, she slid down the wall and sat down, pulling out her cell phone as she did so. Glancing at her watch, she smirked as she realized that at the moment, Logan would be in the middle of class. Payback was sweet. She scrolled through her address book until she found the number she desired and pressed send.

It rang and rang and, instead of hanging up, she kept the phone on as she leaned up against the wall and closed her eyes.

"Hayden!"

Rory grinned mischievously even though she knew that Logan couldn't see her. "Huntzberger! Been way too long!"

"Don't 'it's been way too long' me Lorelai Leigh! I was in the middle of something!"

"Oh did you have class, Logan?" She asked innocently, knowing that he wasn't mad at her.

"Class? Oh shit class!" He paused and Rory could hear the shrug in his voice when he continued. "Oh well too late now. Hold on a second, Ror."

He covered the phone and she could hear his muffled voice in the background. "Hey babe? I'm going to have to continue this later." There came some high-pitched screeching, the slamming of a door and then Logan was back.

"Sorry, had to get rid of what I was busy with. So, what's new with you?"

Rory grinned and started to talk, detailing the move and her first week at Chilton, not leaving anything out. Rory and Logan did have their secrets, but the things that they shared, they really shared.

It was almost an hour later that the bell rang, jerking Rory out of the trance that she had fallen in while listening to Logan talk about his week skipping school and getting into trouble.

"Do you have to go?" He asked, once he realized that she was no longer paying attention.

"Nah, I still have another couple of minutes before I have to go to my next class." She replied, unenthusiastically. Talking to Logan was always fun and she hated when she had to hang up; her cell phone bills were though the roof because of this.

"Anyway, you were telling me about the incident with toothpaste, showers and scissors?" Rory reminded him, getting strange looks from other students passing by.

She stood up, stretching slightly, trying to get the feeling back in her cramped legs. Walking slowly back to her locker, not at all eager to go to her next class, but knowing that there was no point in going to school without going to at least one class.

Struggling with her locker while still listening to Logan's tale, she wasn't aware of three sets of eyes on her.

"Oh my God!" She cried, completely frustrated with her locker that just wouldn't open.

"You know, that's the second time I've been called that today. Although I have to admit that the first time was a little more enthusiastic." Logan said, innuendo heavy in his voice.

Rory rolled her eyes, even though she knew that he couldn't see her. She snuck a glance at her watch and realized that even though it was the last thing she wanted to do, she needed to start going to her next class.

"Logan? I need to go, some people actually bother going to classes," she suggested into the phone.

"Really? 'Cause I know that you're not one of those people, so I don't see why you bothered mentioning it."

"That's not true!" Rory replied, pouting slightly. "I always go to my classes in the first week. The first week is all about making impressions and in order to make a good one on the teachers, you have to go to classes."

Logan laughed. "You're a Hayden, from what you've told me about that school, last names mean everything. I can't believe this is the girl who got me expelled from three schools talking."

"I didn't get you expelled, you got me expelled! But seriously Logan, I have to go! I'll let you call me later in the week."

"Later Hayden."

Rory hung up the phone seconds before Logan did and turned around from her stubborn locker. Jumping back a little when she saw Abby and Alex standing there, identical smirks on their faces, she scowled.

"You got expelled from a school?" Alex was the first to speak, looking at her interestedly.

"No, that's not the important question! The important question is who's Logan and is he hot?" This was from Abby, who giggled and gave Alex a kiss once she saw the mock-hurting look on his face.

"Three and he's my best friend, so of course he's hot! Do you really think that I'd befriend an ugly guy?" Rory grinned and winked at Alex who pretended to look bashful at the implication.

The bell rang, making Rory look up annoyed. She was determined to get to class on time, even if that meant that she had to rush. Finally her locker sprang open and she grabbed the books that she required.

"I have to go," she muttered to Abby and Alex who were flirting with each other and had not seemed to have heard the bell.

"Ooh, wait before you go!" Abby handed Rory a pink flyer. "I'm having a party tonight and you're coming. No excuses will be accepted if you're not there."

Rory shrugged and stuffed the paper into her pocket. "Yeah, sure I'll come."

"Good and you should get Dugrey to go with you."

"Why?" Rory asked curiously, not sure how Abby jumped to the conclusion that she and Tristan knew each other well enough to go to a party together.

"He's been staring at you, like ever since you came to your locker." This was from Alex who smirked and turned to walk down the hall, Abby on his arm.

Rory looked down the hall in the other direction and saw someone turning the corner. It was then that she realized that the hall was empty and classes had already begun. She opened her locker once more, throwing her books back inside and grabbing the stuff that she would need for the weekend. If the day continued in the same pattern as it had that morning, she wouldn't be getting to any of her classes and so there was no point in staying at the school.

Making her way to the parking lot, her mind turned towards the flyer in her pocket. It was pretty average; just stating the time and place of the party. She grinned, thinking of the parties she had been to in the past. She was looking forward to tonight; in her experience, rich kids always had the best parties.


	5. Being Cliché

AN: I love you guys, seriously, you're awesome! Thanks for all the reviews! Hope this chapter is an improvement over the last one; enjoy!

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Rory stared at her face critically in the mirror in her bathroom. She wasn't a vain person by nature but there were times when she knew that appearances were important and tonight was one of those times. Knowing that she had been accepted into the social scene at school, she knew that the next test would be how she acted at parties. Rory was an expert at partying; it was a requirement of being friends with Logan.

She was just evening out the amount of eyeliner on her right eye when she noticed her father leaning against the doorframe.

"Hey." Rory surveyed his outfit and narrowed her eyes suspiciously. "You're looking well dressed this evening."

"Got a date," Chris remarked casually. "I was just leaving actually. I just wanted to make sure that you were alright. Have any plans for tonight?"

"Nice change of subject there, very subtle." She gave up on her eye make-up and flounced past her father and into her room. She sat on her bed, knowing that Chris would be walking through the door after her at any moment and he didn't disappoint.

As soon as he walked through the door he was bombarded by questions. "So, who's the girl? Is she pretty? Do you work together? Because you know what they say about business and pleasure."

Chris laughed. "Her name is Lisa, yes she's pretty, no we don't work together and yes I know what they say about business and pleasure; I learned my lesson after that ugliness in Houston."

Rory pulled a face remembering as well. "So, what time will you be home?"

"Probably around eleven." He paused looking at his daughter's clothes and make-up. "And what are your plans for this evening?"

"My friend's having a party," she remarked casually, getting up from her bed and rummaging around the top of her dresser looking for the necklace that she wanted to wear. "I'll be home late."

Chris nodded and looked at his watch. "Okay, I have to go or I'll be late. Call me if you need anything, I'll keep my cell on. You can drink as long as you don't drive. Be good."

Rory smiled innocently. "I'm always good."

"Says the girl who got drunk at a party thrown by her grandparent's friends and proceeded make a fool of herself." An eyebrow rose.

She rolled her eyes in response. "That doesn't count because I wasn't blamed in the end, the bartender was. The crime doesn't count unless the accused is convicted"

Chris shook his head. "I'm not going to stand here and argue with your twisted sense of logic." He kissed the top of Rory's head. "I'll see you later."

"Bye daddy."

It was almost an hour later that Rory pulled up on the street where the flyer said the party was located. She knew that it was the perfect time to arrive; there wasn't enough time for anyone to get unbelievably drunk but it was still late enough for her to make an entrance and Rory loved making entrances.

Smoothing her jean mini down and heels clanking on the pavement, she made her way up the driveway towards the house that had music blaring. Half drunken teenagers leered at her as she made her towards the front door and she smirked in response.

Opening the door, she was hit with loud music, cigarette smoke and the sight of her fellow students making fools of themselves. She grinned; this never changed, not matter what city she was in.

"Hey! You made it!" Abby rushed up to Rory, eyes wide and excited. "Come over and see Alex and everyone!" She grabbed Rory's arm and pulled her over to a corner where Alex and a group of people had congregated.

"Hey Rory," Alex smiled, eyes glazed. "You look hot." He turned to Abby when he saw her offended look and placed a sloppy kiss on her temple. "But you're hotter." He handed a red plastic cup to Rory, filled with an unidentifiable liquid and she grinned in thanks.

"Cheers." She took a long sip of her drink and smiled at the people surrounding her. "So what's going on?"

It has half an hour later and Rory had a nice buzz going on. She was leaning against the wall talking to a guy that she thought was named Cory but she wasn't sure.

"So then I told him 'no way would I do that!' You know what I mean?" Rory nodded in response, smiling falsely at him. As he went on with his drunken ramblings, her eyes surveyed the now rambunctious group of teenagers, until they met the smirking blue eyes of Tristan Dugrey from across the room.

He was staring at her, plastic cup in hand and, when he saw that she was looking at him, he smiled and raised the cup, toasting her. She continued to watch him as Cory (Cody?) went on with his story, unaware that he was losing his audience. Tristan placed his drink on a nearby table, and gestured towards the front door, before walking out of it himself.

"Sorry, I have to go," Rory murmured, interrupting Cory's story and putting her half-empty drink down. She found herself crossing the room and leaving the party after Tristan without knowing why exactly.

Walking into the fresh air, she looked around before spotting Tristan leaning against a car in the driveway, smiling smugly at her.

"Knew you'd follow me," he said arrogantly but then he smiled at her and suddenly the arrogance didn't matter.

"Yeah, don't know why though," Rory smiled, walking closer to him.

"I know why." He paused for a moment to make it suspenseful. "You want me."

Rory laughed. "Yup, that's exactly it, you're on to me." She looked back at the house and suddenly partying didn't look so appealing anymore. "You want to get out of here?"

"Yeah, sure." If Tristan was surprised by her suggestion he didn't show it. "There's a café a couple blocks away. We could walk there if you want."

"Yeah, that sounds good."

They walked down the driveway, weaving their way through haphazardly parked cars before they arrived on the street. Tristan immediately turned to the right and Rory hurried to stay beside him, wrapping her arms around herself for warmth.

"Cold?" Tristan asked, turning his head to look at her.

"A little, I'll be fine though."

He nodded and they continued on in silence for a while before Rory couldn't take it anymore. "So, seriously, why did you get me to leave with you?"

"Seriously?" When Rory nodded, he shrugged. "You looked bored and I thought that I could liven up your life." He smirked. "You know, the two of us could have our private party." He wiggled his eyebrows suggestively making Rory laugh.

"Wow, you really are a cliché guy, aren't you?" At his pout, she swatted his arm. "You are!" She insisted, laughing.

Tristan shrugged, grinning. "I suppose but these things are clichéd for a reason. Obviously they were just so good that they became clichéd."

"Sure," Rory said skeptically, tossing her hair. "But I want my man to be original."

She grinned at Tristan who laughed and smiled back. He put his hands in his pocket and leaned in to whisper in Rory's ear, his breath hot against her neck. "I can be whoever you want me to be."

At this Rory burst out laughing. "God, I tell you to be original and you become more clichéd than ever."

"You said you want your man to be original; you said nothing about me." He paused and smirked. "Unless you want me to be your man…" He trailed off suggestively.

"Yup, that's it. Ever since I saw you, I have wished that you were my man." Rory retorted sarcastically, eyes filled with laughter. There was a moment of silence before Tristan broke it.

"So what were you and Doug talking about?"

Rory looked puzzled. "Who's Doug?"

"The guy that I rescued you from."

"I thought his name was Cory?"

Tristan rolled his eyes in response. "I can tell that the two of you really hit it off, should I be expecting the wedding invitations any day now?" He laughed as Rory pushed him as hard as she could and he barely moved.

Their banter continued as they walked, their half-drunk and, in Rory's case, giggly voices filling the quiet night. Rory had long since taken off her painful heels and was walking barefoot, glad that the streets of Hartford's finest were kept meticulously clean. Tristan's hands were kept in his pockets, although when he got passionate about a topic, the hands came out and gestured wildly.

It was almost half an hour later that the two of them came across the dark café. They walked up to the door and looked at the front door where the closed sign mocked them.

"They can't be closed already," Tristan complained. "Wait, what time is it?"

Rory shrugged. "Don't know." She fished through her purse until she found her cell phone and glanced at the time displayed on the screen. "Almost 2:30."

Tristan nodded. "Wow, didn't think it was so late. That would explain this place being closed though." He gestured towards the café and smiled ruefully. "Sorry about this."

She grinned. "Don't worry about it, I had fun." She paused. "I should be getting home though. Share a cab?"

"What about your car?"

Rory waved a dismissive hand. "I'll pick it up in the morning."

Tristan nodded. "Okay, sure."

Rory called the number that she had written down on a piece of paper and stuck in her purse earlier that evening. "They should be here within 20 minutes."

They sat down on the curb to wait, both deep in their own thoughts. "So, this was fun. We should do it again sometime." Tristan gazed at Rory out of the corner of his eye as he said this, looking for a reaction.

"Do what? Leave a party half way through, walk forever and then arrive at our destination only to find that we walked all that way for nothing?"

"Well, not exactly like-"

"Definitely." Rory interrupted grinning, looking at Tristan who smiled back.

Half an hour later, the cab pulled up to the dark house and Rory jumped out of the backseat, smiling at Tristan who got out after her.

"Wait here," he told the driver and walked over to Rory. "So, I had fun."

Rory rolled her eyes. "Yup, we've already gone over this; I had fun, you had fun, we should do it again some time." She leaned forward and kissed Tristan on the cheek, lingering longer than necessary. "Call me."

He smirked. "I don't have your number."

Rory mock gasped. "The great Tristan Dugrey doesn't already know my number? I'm disappointed in you." She rummaged through her purse until she found a pen and, leaning forward and grabbing Tristan's hand, she clumsily wrote her number on his arm.

Tristan grinned. "I'll never wash this arm again," he claimed dramatically. Rory giggled and swatted his chest.

"I'll see you around," she promised, kissing him once again on the other cheek.

Leaning in until his mouth was beside her ear, he whispered, "Count on it."

He smiled at her one last time, backing up towards the idling car before getting into the cab and telling the driver to go. Rory watched as it drove off down the dimly lit street before digging through her purse until she found her keys. Opening the door and laying her purse on the table in the entrance, she made her way upstairs to her room.

Tiptoeing her way down the hall as not to wake her father up, she was surprised when the hall light turned on.

"Hey, you're home. Didn't expect to see you until morning." Rory turned to see Chris standing there, smiling tiredly at her.

"Hey daddy." She walked over to him and kissed his cheek. "Yeah, I caught a cab with a friend. I need you to drive me tomorrow to pick up my car."

Chris nodded. "I can do that. Now get some sleep, it's late or early or something." He shook his head, trying to clear his sleep muddled mind.

"Goodnight dad."

"'Night Ror, sweet dreams."

Rory smiled in return and made her way towards her room. She cleaned her face, brushed her teeth and changed into her pajamas before climbing into bed. It was only when she found herself wrapped up in her warm sheets, comforted in the anonymity of the dark room that she acknowledged to herself that when sweet dreams were mentioned, a certain blond-haired blue-eyed boy came to mind.


	6. Rumours and Retribution

AN: You guys are majorly enlarging my ego! Thank you so much for all the reviews! Okay I had no plans to update today but then my soccer team won and I was so happy (we never ever win) and so I decided to! And I know that everyone is eagerly awaiting the arrival of Logan and so since I'm in such a good mood, I'll tell you that he makes his first appearance in chapter nine! Hope you enjoy this chapter!

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Rumors were flying Monday morning at Chilton and everyone was eager for more information. Rory Hayden had left the party Friday night with Tristan Dugrey and neither had returned or been seen until the next morning. Nobody could remember much more than that but suddenly it was certain that the two of them had been seen making out on the dance floor previous to their departure.

When Rory walked confidently into Chilton Monday morning, all eyes were on her but her step didn't falter. She was kind of confused but didn't show it, wanting to find out what was going on first. As she made her way towards her locker she was happy to see that Alex and Abby were standing in front of it; she knew that she could count on the two of them to explain the reason for all the staring.

"Hey!" She called as she got closer.

"Rory!" Abby squealed and Alex winced at the sound before smiling slightly and pulling Abby closer to him.

"Hey Ror," Alex smirked. "You had a big night Friday, didn't you?"

Rory paused in the process of opening her locker. "Friday? I was at the party on Friday."

"Oh, we know that you were there Rory," Abby grinned as if she knew a secret. "Everyone knows that you were there and, better yet, everyone knows who you left with."

Rory started putting her books away and gathering new ones for her next class. "Oh, so this is what the whole staring at me thing is all about." She rolled her eyes. "Yes I left with Tristan Dugrey but no, nothing happened."

"You're saying that nothing happened?" Tristan had snuck up on them without them knowing. "After everything that went on between us, you're acting like it's nothing?"

Rory could see the students in the hall exchange whispers and looks as Tristan talked rather loudly and knew what they were assuming. Her eyes narrowed as she gazed back at Tristan and noticed that although he was trying to look hurt, his eyes were definitely amused. He knew what the rest of Chilton was guessing what happened on Friday and he was having some fun with it.

Rory smirked; she could play this game and she could play it well. "That's what I said, Tristan." She tossed her hair. "There's nothing to talk about." She looked Tristan up and down appraisingly, enjoying the way his eyes narrowed.

"Sweetheart you weren't saying that on Friday." He placed an arm around her shoulder and pulled her close, smiling triumphantly at her.

"Oh honey, I have three words for you." Rory was well aware that the entire hall had grown silent and was fully concentrating on their conversation. "I was faking."

She patted the dumbstruck Tristan on the chest before turning and walking down the hall towards her first class, enjoying the way the students were looking at Tristan. Today was going to be a good day; she could feel it.

It was at the end of the day that Tristan caught up with Rory in the halls as she made her way towards the parking lot.

"So, interesting show you put on earlier." He slipped his arm around her completely naturally.

"Interesting show I put on?" Rory raised a skeptical eyebrow. "You started it!"

"I started it? Oh yeah, that's mature Rory."

Rory sighed sarcastically. "Yeah Tristan I wish that I was as mature as you but you know that because, you know, I was saying that on Friday." She glared at Tristan pointedly and he laughed, raising his hands in defense.

"Alright, alright, maybe I didn't take the most mature route but c'mon, you have to admit that you had fun."

Rory laughed. "Okay, fine, it was kind of fun."

Tristan grinned in response and opened his mouth to say something but was cut off.

"Dugrey!"

Rory and Tristan turned to see a group of guys gesturing for Tristan to join them. He grinned and squeezed Rory on the arm.

"Sorry, duty calls. Maybe we can catch up later." He wiggled his eyebrows suggestively.

Rory smiled and shook her head. "Bye Tristan."

She made her way out the front door, hearing Tristan greeting his friend's behind her. Sighing slightly, she somehow knew that everything was about to get more complicated with Tristan and there was no way to stop it. For a brief moment she wondered if she would stop it if even if she could.

By the middle of the week, it was a common sight to see Tristan and Rory together. Tristan still flirted with all the girls and Rory was constantly with Alex, Abby and their friends, but somehow they always found a way to catch up in the halls for a minute or to hang out at lunch. Although at first it caused an outbreak in the rumor mill, the gossip surrounding the two of them soon died down, but not without a lot of speculation about their relationship.

It was on Thursday that Chilton received a new student by the name of Devin Martin. He was introduced in each of his classes and was immediately rejected by the majority of the population. His shoes were scuffed, his tie wasn't straight and his hair was too long and too messy to be acceptable. He simply screamed scholarship student, and to many that was the equivalent of being diseased; he was simply someone you didn't associate yourself with. Of course Abby and Alex took him under their wing immediately.

By lunchtime rumor had spread of the new guy and so there was a lot of neck craning and disgusted looks being thrown his way in the cafeteria. Rory sauntered over to the table that she now regularly occupied and sat down in her seat, taking out her lunch and laughing at the joke that someone had just told. It was only when she started eating that she noticed that there was an extra person at the table.

"Oh hey Ror, this is Devin. Devin this is Rory," Alex supplied, seeing the object of Rory's scrutiny, gesturing with his hand while holding a sandwich, spreading its contents in the process.

"Oh yeah, right. You're in my English class," Rory said, smiling sweetly. "Welcome to Chilton." He might not have been well-liked but Rory had learned to be polite to everyone she met because it could work out to your advantage someday.

"Yeah, thanks," Devin mumbled in reply, obviously not liking that he was now the center of attention.

"So Dev," Abby started. "I can call you Dev, right? It's easier." She plowed on without waiting for a response. "How do you like Chilton so far? It's a bit overwhelming for the first little bit, just ask Rory; she was new last week." She patted Rory hard on the back, causing her to cough slightly.

"It's alright, very intense." Devin was now concentrating fully on his lunch, looking as if he wanted the interrogation to be over.

"Intense, yeah." Abby nodded wisely, before ruining the affect by giggling as Alex nudged her in the ribs.

"Hey." A body squeezed his way between Rory and Josh and reached out to grab one of Rory's chips before it was slapped away. "Ow!"

"Serves you right, Tristan," Rory pouted dramatically. She pointed to the opened bag of chips. "Mine."

"I thought that we were past the whole possessiveness thing and were onto the whole 'what's mine is yours' thing."

"I don't want what you've got," Rory retorted immediately.

Tristan laughed. "Ouch, that hurts Ror." He looked around the table, nodding to everyone that he knew. His gaze stopped at Devin but he didn't say anything to introduce himself, merely looked at him and moved on. "But I know that you're lying, so I'll get over it."

Rory arched an eyebrow. "I'm lying?"

"Of course you are. You know that you want what I've got," he said arrogantly, prompting the table to laugh. Rory shook her head and rolled her eyes, already used to Tristan's conceitedness.

"So I was thinking," Tristan began, turning to Rory and lowering his voice so the rest of the table couldn't hear him.

"Did it hurt?"

He rolled his eyes. "And you say I'm cliché. Anyway, I was thinking that we should do it again sometime."

Rory wrinkled her nose. "Kinky but we didn't do it the first time so technically we can't do it again."

"You know what I mean. We should, I don't know, hang out this weekend. Watch a movie or something."

Rory shrugged. "Sure, I guess."

"Just the enthusiastic response I was hoping for." He stopped to look at someone across the room. "I have to go but I'll call you later."

"Okay." Rory turned back to her food, suddenly starving.

"So are you and Tristan dating?" Abby asked, never being able to mind her own business for very long.

"Nope, just friends."

Abby wrinkled her nose. "How boring. You should make up a better story. Ooh I know! Tell people that the two of you met on a bus five years ago and starting talking without ever knowing the other's last name and you got separated although you thought of each other every minute of every day for the last five years and then you started here where you walked into the classroom and back into his life. It was fate; how romantic."

The table was engulfed in utter silence, as every occupant stared at Abby like she was crazy.

"What?"

Alex laughed and pulled her close, kissing her cheek. "Nothing babe, we're just astonished by your brilliance."

Rory laughed. "That's an understatement. I'll see you guys later." She stood up and walked out of the cafeteria, unaware of Tristan's eyes following her every move.

Later that night, Rory was lounging comfortably on her living room couch watching T.V. in her pajamas when her dad walked into the room.

"Hey kid."

"Hey daddy." She paused, looking up from the screen and surveyed his outfit, noticing that it was fancier than usual. "Got another date with Lisa?"

Chris straightened his shirt self-consciously. "Yup, I have to leave in a few minutes to pick her up; just wanted to say good-night first."

Rory nodded, smiling slightly. It wasn't like her dad never dated; it was just unusual that he went back for a second date. Sometimes Rory felt guilty, knowing that her father's life revolved around her; the only thing not in her favor was the constant moves but even then he always picked houses in the best school districts, with the most kids around. Even though she had attended more than one boarding school, it was out of necessity when Chris had no other choice; not because he wanted her out of his way.

"Have you finished your homework?" Chris' typical dad question interrupted Rory's musings.

"Yup," Rory lied, thinking of all the work that hadn't left her backpack since it was put in there.

"Good." Chris eyed her suspiciously before glancing at his watch. "I have to go; I'll be home by 10:30 at the latest. Good-night."

"Bye daddy, have fun."

Chris turned and walked out of the room and a minute later Rory heard the front door slam. She sighed and turned back to the T.V. and immersed herself in the teenage drama that was currently playing. Just having got caught up to what she missed, she was annoyed when she heard her cell phone ringing. She got up off the couch and left the room, racking her mind as to where she had left it. Finally locating it, she picked it up and opened it.

"Hello?"

"Hey, you sound out of breath; been thinking of me?"

"Yes Tristan, I was just sitting here staring at my phone, hoping desperately that you would call me."

Rory could practically hear the smirk in his voice. "That wasn't the type of 'thinking' that I meant," he replied, innuendo heavy in his voice.

She rolled her eyes. "I know. So what's up?"

"I'm bored." He stated simply. "And then I was overcome with the urge to hear your voice and so I decided that I would call you to talk to you."

A smile blossomed on her face at his words and stayed on her face for the rest of the night. It was late when she hung up the phone, late when she dragged herself to bed and late when she woke up in the morning. Somehow none of that mattered and none of that fazed her as his words and their conversation stayed with her for the entire night and following day. Rory didn't know how or when it had happened, but somewhere along the way, Tristan Dugrey had come to mean a lot to her and that scared her.


	7. Suddenly Fans of the Cliché

AN: I'm so sorry about the mistakes at the end of the last chapter (I can't believe I missed it). Thanks to finnlover for pointing it out to me! I had a lot of questions about Devin but I can't answer them (don't want to give up the plot).. And again, I'm sorry to everybody who wants this to be a Rogan but it's definately going to be a trory.. Hope you enjoy this chapter!

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It was at the end of day on Friday and Rory was at her locker collecting her books for the weekend when Tristan approached her.

"So, Friday."

Rory turned and looked at him quizzically. "Yes Tristan, today is Friday," she said condescendingly.

He rolled his eyes. "It is? Wow! The things that you learn!" He said sarcastically. "Anyway, so I was thinking that we could hang out tonight."

She smiled and nodded. "Right, you mentioned that yesterday." She paused a moment, thinking. "You can come over if you want. We can watch a movie and order pizza or something."

Tristan leered. "I can think of other things that we could-"

"My dad will be home." Rory cut him off, laughing at his disappointed expression.

"My house will be empty," Tristan supplied, the look on his face equivalent to one who just discovered something important.

Rory rolled her eyes. "Maybe I'm suddenly busy tonight. My hair could use being washed."

He pouted. "Never mind; I'll be good. Movies and pizza at your house are fine," he said quickly.

She nodded. "That's what I thought. I should go but come over tonight around 7."

"Sounds good." He smiled and walked down the hall, looking back once to see Rory shutting her locker and walking in the opposite direction.

Rory was just putting the finishing touches on her make-up when the doorbell rang. Making her way downstairs, she glanced at her watch and was surprised to see that it was already 7:10. She yelled to her dad, telling him that she would answer it.

"You're late," she stated, after opening the door.

"No, I'm not," Tristan retorted immediately, always up for an argument. "You said 'around 7' and it is around 7."

Rory rolled her eyes. "This whole memorizing our conversations thing is really started to become annoying."

"You're just annoyed because I'm right."

Rory opened the door wider and gestured for Tristan to enter. He followed her through the entrance hall and into the living room, where she had stacked her DVDs and placed the take-out menus and snacks.

"So, what do you want to do?" She asked him, making her way towards the couch.

"Get food; I'm starving." Tristan sat down at the other end of the couch, folding one leg underneath him. He looked around the room, noticing that although the furniture was mismatched and everything was disorganized, somehow everything fit.

"What do you feel like?" She noticed the beginning of a smirk on his face and continued before he could say anything. "What do you feel like eating, I mean?"

"What else would you mean?" Tristan asked, looking innocently at Rory. He paused for a moment. "I don't know; pizza would be good."

Rory nodded. "Sure." She leaned over to reach the table to get the number for the pizza place. She dialed and talked for a few minutes before hanging up. "It should be here within 45 minutes."

Tristan smirked and leaned back, folding his hands behind his head. "And how should we occupy our time until then?" He asked suggestively.

"I'd suggest a nice, friendly game of Scrabble myself," said a voice from the door to the living room.

The two teenagers turned around, surprised to see Chris standing there.

"Hey dad," Rory greeted, trying hard not to laugh at the look on Tristan's face. "This is Tristan. Tristan this is my dad Christopher."

Tristan stood up. "It's nice to meet you Mr. Hayden." He looked nervous, knowing that Chris had understood what he was implying.

Chris laughed. "Chris is fine. What are you two up to this evening?"

"We ordered pizza and we're just going to hang out here," Rory replied, gesturing for Tristan to sit back down, which he did, still looking uncomfortable.

"Sounds good. Anyway, I'm off; I won't be home too late."

Rory's eyes narrowed. "Off where?"

"The parent meeting night at the school. You told me about it last week," Chris said, looking confused.

"Oh, right." Rory said, looking sheepish. "I forgot about that."

"I should get going; wouldn't want to be late and embarrass you. Nice meeting you Tristan."

"You too," Tristan called at Chris' retreating form. He sighed, loudly. "So, that's your dad."

Rory nodded. "Yup that's dad. You made a nice first impression," she added sarcastically.

Tristan looked sheepish and said, "I know, I'm surprised he didn't try to castrate me."

She shrugged. "My best friend's a guy so dad's got pretty used to leaving me alone in a house with a guy without making a big deal about it. Besides, Logan makes comments like that all the time and dad just laughs."

"And Logan is…?"

"My best friend," Rory supplied, looking curiously at Tristan. "Why?"

He shrugged uncomfortably. "Just wondering."

Rory pushed herself up and crossed her legs underneath her. She leaned back against the couch, looking at Tristan out of the corner of her eye. After a moment of silence, she reached forward and grabbed the remote for the CD player and turned on the radio. Flipping through the stations, she finally stopped at a rock station before turning to face Tristan.

"So, who are you?"

Tristan looked amused. "What, you invite so many guys to your house that you forgot who I am? And here I thought I was special." He pouted pathetically.

Rory rolled her eyes. "Wow, way to imply that I'm a slut."

Tristan protested loudly and apologized.

"Uh-huh, sure," Rory said doubtfully. She paused for a minute and shrugged. "I guess I just wanted to know more about you. I've known you like what, a week, two weeks?"

He looked thoughtful for a moment. "What do you want to know?"

Rory shrugged. "Anything, everything."

"That's too open ended. Give me something specific."

"Alright." She thought for a moment. "Favorite place?"

"My bedroom."

Rory threw a pillow at him. "Seriously!"

"I was being serious!" Tristan claimed, holding his hands up in defense.

She rolled her eyes in response. A new song came on the radio, catching the attention of both Tristan and Rory.

"I love this song!" Rory exclaimed, standing up excitedly, finding the remote for the radio and turning up the volume. Her eyes wide and excited, she reached forward and grabbed Tristan's hand, pulling him up as well. "Let's dance!"

"It's Nirvana," Tristan said, stating the obvious. "You can't dance to Nirvana, Rory."

"Of course you can. You can dance to anything."

She led Tristan through an elaborate dance involving jumping, spins, twirls and dips. He was usually a pretty good dancer, but Rory's dancing made him stumble and trip constantly. Dipping her low to the floor, he grinned down at her, enjoying her flushed face and sparkling eyes. Bringing her back up, he held her close, slowing her down considerably.

"This isn't how you dance to Nirvana," Rory whispered, her head on his shoulder, her breath hot against his neck.

"This is how I dance to Nirvana," Tristan replied, looking down at her and smiling.

The chorus came back on and Rory took the opportunity to go back to her complicated, fast dance. It wasn't that she didn't like being in Tristan's arms, it was the opposite; she enjoyed it too much. When the song was over, they collapsed on the couch, both breathing heavily and grinning.

Tristan looked over at Rory, noticing for the first time their close proximity. Not being able to help himself, he moved closer until his face was inches away from hers. As she gazed into his eyes, Rory felt a thrill of anticipation, knowing what was going to happen next and welcoming it.

"If I was really cliché," he whispered, moving closer until his mouth was right beside her ear. "I would tell you that you have never looked so beautiful and then ask if I could kiss you."

"But since you're not cliché?" Rory asked, breathless, waiting for what she knew was about to come.

"I'm not going to ask." He leaned in and pressed his lips against hers.

There were no fireworks and the world didn't stop, but it was something special; it was perfect. Tristan moved forward, wrapping his arms around Rory's waist, enjoying the feeling of her hands running through his hair. They pulled apart minutes later although it seemed like hours later but it still wasn't long enough. Resting their foreheads against each other's, they gazed into the other's eyes, their breaths mingling.

"I hate to tell you this," Rory began, her voice slightly hoarse from the kiss that they had just shared. "But that was still kind of clichéd."

Tristan laughed. "Suddenly I'm a fan of the cliché." He leaned forward and kissed Rory again, one hand smoothing her hair behind her ear, the other on the small of her back.

"Me too," Rory whispered against his lips once they had broken apart, her eyes still closed. This time she made the first move and she kissed him, pulling him closer still.

* * *

Christopher Hayden walked into Chilton, wincing slightly as he did so. He hated being back here, hated the memories that this building and everything in it represented. Sighing, he looked at the piece of paper in his hand with the room number written on it and sped up, not wanting to be late.

The teacher had already begun talking when he walked through the door, but he made his way unseen to a seat at the back of the class. He only half-listened as the teacher droned on about the importance of the student's senior year and what it represented. Chris could barely remember his senior year and the parts that he could did not revolve around tests and graduation. By the time he had graduated from high school, he had already had the responsibility of looking after another life and that was much more important than anything the teachers could come up with. He didn't regret Rory as she meant everything to him and although he learned to never look back, he was still kind of bitter at the thoughts that being at Chilton resurfaced.

He listened as the parents questioned the curriculum and their children's best options for planning for their post-secondary education. He may have been bored but, as petty as it was, after years of having teachers make him feel uncomfortable, it was almost a relief to see them under pressure for once.

The teacher's speech was interrupted when a man and woman arrived at the classroom door a lot more loudly than Chris had. Chris ignored them, not caring one way or another who it was. He knew maybe half of the parents congregated in the stifling classroom and he liked less than half of those that he knew.

When the teacher got back on track and starting speaking about the student's ideal post-secondary education options, he decided to speak up.

"Where can my daughter go to learn more about this herself?" He asked, not really caring but knowing that he should say something. He didn't see the lady that arrived late swivel her head quickly and look at him in shock.

"She can make an appointment with the guidance counselor."

"And when would this meeting take place? During class time, I assume."

The teacher frowned. "Yes, usually those types of meetings take place during class time."

Chris smirked inwardly, enjoying this. "And how is that beneficial to my daughter's learning if she's missing valuable class time?"

The teacher's frown deepened. "Who is your daughter Mr.…?

"Hayden," Chris supplied, not seeing the mysterious woman's face blanch and her companion looking at her in concern. "And my daughter is Rory."

"Ah yes Rory Hayden," the teacher started, looking triumphant. "Good student but seems to have problems coming to class as it is. I don't think it would take too much out of her to miss a class to talk to the guidance counselor; it would probably be more productive than what she does when she misses class now."

Chris scowled, annoyed at this dig against his daughter. He knew that she wasn't the model student, that she didn't attend every class and that her homework wasn't always completed but this man didn't have to point it out.

As the other parents started to complain about their children and their problems, he leaned back in his seat, wishing that he was home. He looked at the clock and saw that there was still a lot of time left before he was able to leave. It was only a few minutes later that the teacher announced a five minute break causing Chris to look up in relief.

He made his way out the door with the other parents and contemplated leaving. Deciding that for Rory's sake he would stick it out, he turned to go back into the class. Bumping into a woman, he automatically reached out to steady her, murmuring an apology. His eyes widened as he looked down and recognized the blue eyes gazing back at him.

"Lorelai?"

"Hello Christopher."


	8. Narrow Avoidance

The half-empty pizza box was strewn across the coffee table and the television screen that had previously been playing a movie had long since turned black. The entwined occupants of the living room couch noticed none of this; they were so wrapped up in each other.

Her hands were running up and down his bare back teasingly, tantalizingly. He braced himself with his bent arm, trying not to crush her as he kissed her lips, her neck, her chest, her stomach. Her lips moved to his neck and he groaned slightly, moving his head to capture her lips in his. They were completely unaware of the time, the place, the world; only conscious of the other.

Tristan pulled back slightly and smiled. "Hey," he whispered, running his hand down her bare back, enjoying how she arched slightly as he did so.

"Hi," Rory whispered back, smoothing one hand down the side of his cheek, giggling slightly as he moved forward to nuzzle her neck.

He kissed her neck playfully, sloppily and then laughed, his breath hot against her skin, as she squirmed. She moved her head so she could reach his lips and then she kissed him, deepening it slowly, ardently. Moving slightly so he was closer to her, he placed a hand on her bare waist, moving it up and down slightly and sighed into her mouth.

It was then that the two of them became aware of the front door opening and closing and the heavy footsteps from in the hall.

"Shit!" Rory exclaimed, pushing Tristan off of her slightly so she could grab her shirt that had fallen on the floor beside them.

Tristan rolled off of Rory and reached between the couch cushions trying to find his discarded shirt. He looked around desperately; the seconds seeming like minutes as he couldn't find it and the footsteps came closer.

"Here." Rory shoved the piece of fabric towards him, pulling on her own shirt in the process. He put it on quickly, for once not worrying about wrinkles that would surely be evident.

They had just moved to opposite ends of the couch, turning slightly to make it look like they had just been talking, when Chris walked into the room looking worn out.

"Hey daddy!" Rory's voice was too cheerful and high but Chris didn't notice, so immersed in replaying his night in his mind.

"Hey Rory, hi Tristan," he murmured, distracted. He finally looked up and saw the two of them for the first time. "It's getting kind of late; I'm going to head off to bed."

"Yeah, I should be going home." Tristan stood up, stretching slightly. "It was nice to meet you Mr. Hayden."

Chris smiled, although it was tired. "Tristan I told you; call me Chris. It was nice to meet you too."

"I'm going to walk Tristan out, okay dad?" Rory put in, so relieved in their narrow avoidance of an awkward situation that she didn't notice the weary and conflicted look on her father's face.

Chris nodded, leaving the living room. Rory stretched and lazily pushed herself up off the couch, sauntering over to Tristan.

"'It was nice to meet you Mr. Hayden,'" she mocked, laughing. "You're such a suck up."

Tristan rolled his eyes. "Well if he ever finds out what his daughter and I were doing right before he entered, maybe he'll remember how polite and well-mannered I was and decide to let me live."

Rory laughed. "Unlikely." She reached over and grabbed his hand. "Now c'mon, I'm walking you to your car."

"Don't I have a choice?"

"Nope," Rory replied, pulling him through the hall until they reached the front door. Rory slipped on a pair of discarded and well-worn flip-flops while Tristan tied his shoes and grabbed his jacket. They opened the door and stepped out into the brisk night, making their way down the long driveway towards Tristan's car.

"Pretty car," Rory commented as they rounded a curve and the car came into sight. Tristan stopped and stared at her.

"Pretty car?" He repeated incredulously. "My car isn't pretty!"

"Sure it is, it's silver and it's pretty."

"Cars aren't pretty," Tristan insisted, his voice indignant and slightly strangled.

Rory rolled her eyes. "'Cars aren't pretty, you can't dance to Nirvana,'" she mimicked before sighing dramatically. "You have a lot to learn Dugrey." She patted him on the chest and he grabbed her hand when she would have put it back at her side, interlacing their fingers.

They finally arrived at the end of the long driveway where Tristan's car was parked and he pushed her against it gently. He kissed her long and slow, and, when she would have deepened it, he kept it light. He pulled back after a moment, still holding her hand and kissed her cheek.

"I know I still have a lot to learn," he whispered, using his other hand to push the hair back from her face. "But you'll teach me, right?"

It was a loaded question that had nothing to do with the topic and they both knew it. As Rory looked at Tristan's anxious face she knew that it was all about to get more complicated and she was going to be way over her head.

"Yeah," she found herself whispering back, not entirely sure that she wanted to go down this road. "I'll teach you."

Sunday found Rory lounging around in her pajamas, watching movies and gorging on unhealthy food. She hadn't seen her father for any long period of time since Friday afternoon but she didn't think anything of it; he frequently worked late hours and weekends. Talking to Tristan on the phone had become an hourly activity as they were in that nauseatingly cute stage in their relationship. If they had a relationship that is and Rory wasn't exactly sure what they were. They were dating, they had fun together but Rory always avoided things becoming serious. Until Friday night, she had been sure that Tristan did too, but he had seemed to be thinking differently when he had said good-bye.

She sighed and picked up the phone, dialing a familiar number.

"Hey, you've reached Logan. I'm busy at the moment so call me back later or leave a message. Rory this doesn't mean that you leave countless messages; one is preferable."

Rory hung up before it beeped, smiling at his voicemail message. She was constantly calling him and leaving stupid messages, or holding the phone up to the radio when a song came on that she liked. It all drove Logan mad and he was constantly complaining about it even though Rory was positive that he secretly loved it.

She sighed; it was typical that just when she needed a look into the male psyche both her dad and Logan were unavailable.

"Who's that?" Rory asked bright and early Monday morning pointing subtly down the hall towards a blonde-haired girl who she thought looked vaguely familiar.

Abby turned and looked in the direction Rory was pointing. "Oh that's Paris Gellar, surely you've met her? Or at least heard of her; she's pretty intense, most people have had at least one run-in with her."

Rory's mind flashed back to her first day at Chilton and her face-off with the editor of the school paper, explaining why the girl looked so familiar.

"Why do you want to know?" Abby asked, interrupting Rory's musings.

"She's jealous." Alex smirked, nodding his head towards Tristan who Paris was blatantly flirting with.

Rory shook her head. "I'm not jealous, Tristan can do whatever or whoever he wants. It's just pathetic the way she's throwing herself at him."

Alex and Abby exchanged knowing grins having gone through the whole undefined relationship thing last year.

"Sure sweetheart," Abby said sympathetically. She and Alex turned to walk down the hall. "If I were you though, I'd go claim my territory," she added.

Alex snorted, looking down at his girlfriend. "How very caveman of you, babe."

"It worked with you didn't it?" Abby asked fluttering her lashes flirtatiously.

They turned and walked away, completely oblivious to the world around them, only seeing each other. Rory watched them go and sighed. Jealousy was an emotion that she hadn't felt in a long time. When she was really little, she had been jealous of the other kids who stayed in one place and had both a mother and a father. With her first boyfriend, she had been jealous when the other girls hit on him. Eventually she realized that being jealous gained nothing and she got over it. Boyfriends after that had never lasted very long; merely an escape from reality until she moved away and contact ceased. It had been so long since she actually cared for someone that this new feeling scared her and she promised herself that she wouldn't let it dominate her.

With that thought in mind, she started to her first class, books in hand. To get there she would have to pass Paris and Tristan who were still talking, but she resolved to ignore them. That was her plan at least, until she started to walk past them and a hand shot out grabbing her wrist, pulling her towards them.

"Hey!" Rory looked up into Tristan's pouting face. "You weren't going to come say good-morning?"

Rory laughed lightly and kissed the corner of his mouth. "Nope, I was waiting for you to come to me. Gosh Dugrey, I can't do everything," she teased, enjoying the way that Paris' eyes narrowed when she kissed him gently on the cheek.

Tristan wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her close, her back against his front. Resting his chin on the top of her head and ignoring the indignant look that Rory sent him, he turned back to Paris.

"Oh right! Paris, this is my girlfriend Rory. Rory this is Paris."

"Hi," Rory said smiling sweetly, placing her hands on Tristan's hands that were resting on her stomach and leaning back into him.

"We've met," Paris said stiffly. "I've got to go." She took off down the hall.

"What was with her?" Rory asked innocently, looking up at Tristan with wide eyes.

He shrugged and turned her around so that she was facing him, his arms remaining around her waist.

"So I'm your girlfriend now?" Rory looked up at Tristan teasingly; ignoring the fact that she had gotten a tingly feeling in her chest when he called her that.

Tristan sighed dramatically. "Yup, I decided that since I felt sorry for you, I would agree to let you call yourself my girlfriend."

Rory wrinkled her nose. "How very generous of you," she replied sarcastically. The bell rang making the two of them jump slightly. "I have to go."

"Nope," Tristan stated simply, tightening his hold on her. "You're staying."

"Tristannn," Rory whined. "I have to go."

Tristan sighed as if it were a big thing that she was asking him. "Fine," he groaned before brightening. "Kiss first."

Rory leaned forward and gently pressed her lips to his, keeping it innocent knowing that they were in a school and half of the student body was staring at them.

"Can I go now?" She asked sarcastically, raising a questioning eyebrow.

"I suppose." He kissed her once more, swiftly on the mouth before letting go and heading to his locker down the hall.

It was at the end of the day that the two of them caught up again. Rory was once again at her locker, packing up her stuff and talking with Abby when Tristan wrapped his arms around her from behind.

"Hey," Rory greeted, looking over her shoulder at him.

"Hey." He leaned forward and placed a kiss on her cheek. "Hey Abby," he added as an afterthought, nodding to her.

"Hi Tristan!" Abby said. She looked down the hall and smirked. "Sorry have to go. My parents will be home in half an hour and so Alex and I only have 20 minutes."

She took off down the hall leaving Tristan and Rory alone. Rory continued to pull books out of her locker while Tristan let go of her and leaned against the locker next to hers, watching her. When her stuff was all packed up he picked up her backpack without a word and walked beside her towards the parking lot. About halfway there his hand extended slightly and grabbed hers, entwining their fingers.

When they reached Rory's car, Tristan put down her backpack and stepped forward, raising his arms and effectively trapping her between him and the car.

Kissing her neck, he whispered, "So this was good, wasn't it? We were good I mean."

With her eyes closed, she nodded wordlessly. His lips moved to her mouth and they kissed, really kissed, for the first time since Friday. Tristan groaned when Rory eventually pulled away.

"I have to go," she whispered, wishing that it wasn't true and that she could stay.

"Okay," he murmured back, kissing her hard before stepping back and lowering his arms, knowing that there was no point in arguing.

Rory got into her car and, with one last kiss, drove away.

It was a content and happy Rory that waltzed into the Hayden house that afternoon. She was surprised to see her dad's car in the driveway and immediately went to the kitchen, still walking on air.

"Hey daddy," she practically sang, kissing his cheek and opening the refrigerator, looking for food. "What are you doing home so early?"

"Oh, you know. Slow day at the office." He contemplated just blurting his news out right then and there. "You look happy," he said instead.

Rory grinned taking out an orange and beginning to peel it. "Tristan and I are dating now."

"Really?" He asked although it hadn't come as that big of a surprise; he had seen the way the boy had been looking at his daughter. "That's great. He seems like a nice kid."

"He's not," Rory replied immediately. "He can actually be really annoying, he's arrogant and he always gets what he wants." She paused for a moment. "But in the end it doesn't really matter," she added quietly.

Chris nodded, used to Rory gushing about her new boyfriends. She always did once she started a new relationship, although it never really affected her when they eventually ended. Teenage girls were mysteries to Chris.

Rory finished peeling her orange, taking the peels over to garbage can and heading towards the door.

"Hey Rory?" Chris blurted out, prepared to tell her everything, desperate from holding it in for so long.

She turned and looked at her father, a wide smile on her face. "Yeah daddy?"

He looked into her eyes and faltered. He grasped for something to say. "I love you, kid."

"Love you, too." She grinned and left the room, practically skipping to her bedroom.

In the kitchen, Chris put his head in his hands and sighed. He didn't know what to do, didn't know how to tell her. Everything was so fucked up and distorted now. He considered running from his problems, he and Rory could pack up their things and leave the state and she would never know the real reason why. Chris sighed again, realizing that Rory was just getting settled in and was happy; he couldn't take that away from her. Not seeing any other choice, he picked up the phone and dialed a number that had been scribbled on a small piece of paper.

"Hello, Martin residence."

Chris took a deep breath. "Hi, can I speak with Lorelai Martin please?"


	9. Protective Best Friends

AN: So people obviously weren't happy about the return of Lorelai.. shrugs don't know what to say about that! Yes Lorelai is Rory's real mother in this story but I'm not going to say anymore about that.. Thanks so much for reviewing-- I can't believe I have more than 100 reviews, I thought I was going to get maybe 20 at the most! Before anyone says anything about the way I potrayed Logan, I'm basing his reaction to Tristan on the way that my brother reacts when he meets guys that I know.. sorry if people don't think he'd act like that but he considers Rory his little sister... I hope you guys like this chapter!

* * *

Rory was sitting in the back of the classroom in a seat that she had claimed as hers. It had been occupied when she started at Chilton but by her second day it had been left vacant for her. She tapped her pen against her paper, glancing frequently at the clock hanging to her left. Her paper was filled with doodles and scribbles, nothing legible. The teacher droned on and Rory sighed; never had she had such a boring English class. She wondered what Tristan was up to at that moment.

Tristan. Everything between the two of them was going well, granted they had only been dating for just over a month. They had fun, having had a blast the previous night when they had gone to the movies together. Buying a huge amount of candy, impossible to eat in one sitting, they had half-watched the movie, half-watched each other. Everything was going perfect so far and that worried Rory for she knew that she was already getting in too deep with Tristan. He was perfect for her; he was good-looking, sarcastic, funny and he never took anything too seriously. Rory sighed and resolved just to concentrate on the now and forget about the future, it would come soon enough.

Mrs. Marks was cut off half way through her lecture when the door swung open and a familiar blond-haired boy walked in. The girls in the class immediately straightened, Rory included. He surveyed the classroom, his eyes pausing on Rory for a second and he smirked as her eyes narrowed dangerously.

"Hello," Mrs. Marks said cheerfully. "Can I help you?"

He handed an official looking piece of paper to the teacher and looked on casually as she read it. Eventually she looked up and smiled at the whispering class.

"Attention class. We have another new student." She turned towards the new student. "We've had two already this year, quite unusual for us." The boy nodded knowledgeably in return, looking uninterested. "Anyway this is Logan Huntzberger. Please make him feel welcome here at Chilton."

She looked around the classroom for an empty seat and, not finding one, she turned back to Logan. "It appears that we don't have an empty desk. We'll get you one for tomorrow but for the rest of the class just sit with one of your fellow classmates."

Logan nodded and started to walk towards the class when the teacher stopped him. "I almost forgot. Do you want to tell the class a little bit about yourself?"

Logan stared for a moment, looking thoughtful. "No, I think I'm good," he said simply, smiling charmingly at the class. He ignored the teacher's annoyed look and put his notebook down on a desk occupied by a short brown-haired girl and grabbed a chair from the side. He grinned at the girl and she blushed prettily, smirking in triumph at the rest of the girls in the class, who glared jealously in return.

Rory was sure that she was gaping in shock. Logan was the last person she expected to walk though that door although she should have predicted that he would do something like this eventually. Logan was the overprotective type; when she had found out that her first boyfriend had been cheating on her, he had made her ex's life a living hell until he was finally expelled from that particular school for it. He had always treated her like a sister, except for that first awkward period when they had first met at the age of thirteen when they were unsure whether they wanted friendship or something more. They ended up picking friendship and it was the best decision that either had ever made.

She watched as Logan leaned over and whispered something into the brunette she remembered was named Madeline's ear. Glaring at the clock, she wished that this class was over; she wanted to talk to Logan and find out what he was doing here at his school.

Finally the bell rang and Rory was put out of her misery. Watching as Logan was held back to talk to the teacher, she waited in the hall right outside of the door for him to come out. Minutes later he did, not looking surprised when he saw her standing there.

"What the hell are you doing here?"

He grinned lazily and spread his arms out in a gesture of innocence. "What, not happy to see me?"

Her eyes narrowed. "Not at the moment." She crossed her arms across her chest and leaned back against the wall. "You could have told me, Logan." She paused. "Why are you here?"

Logan sighed. "I don't know. I missed you," he admitted quietly. "And I came to an agreement with my father to allow me to come here." He grinned ruefully. "It took a lot of convincing considering we seem to get in trouble whenever we're together but in the end he caved." He paused, judging her facial expression. "I just hate that we're at separate schools, you know? We should be in this together."

Rory smiled, remembering why she became friends with Logan in the first place. "Maybe I missed you a little but that's only because everyone blames the guy when we get caught." She stepped forward and hugged him, holding on for a moment.

He laughed as she let and swung an arm around her shoulders. "Aw c'mon Hayden; you know you love me."

"Don't know why though."

They made their way towards Rory's locker, aware that almost every eye was on the two of them. Whispering to each other, they looked intimate, as if they were in their own separate world. His arm wrapped around her shoulders, her arm around his waist; they were too close to have just met. To Tristan Dugrey who was watching, this looked like competition and he was very competitive.

"Want to give them a show?" Logan leaned in and whispered in Rory's ear, smiling mischievously.

Rory shook her head, laughing. "I'm actually seeing someone and he'd probably be pretty pissed off if you kissed me."

"You're seeing someone?" Logan repeated, not very surprised; Rory almost always had a boyfriend and at least one other guy waiting in the wings for their shot.

"Yeah." She shrugged. "We've been dating for like a month now. Sorry, I must have forgotten to tell you."

Logan laughed. "You always do." He looked around as they reached Rory's locker, dropping his arm. "So do I get to meet the guy?" He smirked. "I have to make sure he's good enough for you."

She rolled her eyes in response. "You hate every guy I date, Logan. Don't see why this one will be any different."

"That's not true. If I hated every guy you dated then I would never have any friends."

Her eyes narrowed and she put her hands on her hips. "Excuse me?"

Logan smiled sheepishly. "It sounded better in my head?"

She rolled her eyes, something she found herself doing constantly when she was with him. "Sure it did."

Finally opening her locker, she placed her notebook from her last class into it and picked up the one for her next class.

"Don't suppose I could borrow your English notebook, could I?" Logan asked, fidgeting and pulling at his tie; he hated asking for favors. "The teacher said that I needed to copy what the students have written down so far this year."

Rory shrugged and pulled her notebook back out of her locker. "Sure, they won't be much help though."

He flipped through the book, noticing nothing more than doodles, scribbles and blank pages. He rolled his eyes. "Thanks Ror, this'll really help me."

"I told you that they wouldn't be much help." She sighed dramatically. "You have no faith in me Huntzberger." She grabbed the notebook back from Logan and shoved it into her locker.

"Hi!" There came a voice from their right. Both Logan and Rory turned to see who had spoke and saw Abby there. "I'm Abby," she introduced smirking, looking Logan up and down.

"Logan," he replied smiling, always the charmer.

Abby's eyes widened in realization. "Ooh you're Rory's friend; she told us about you. She wasn't lying when she said that you were hot."

Alex cleared his throat from behind Abby. "You think he's hot?" He asked indignantly, a hand clutching his chest dramatically.

"Not as hot as you," she replied automatically, hooking an arm around his neck and kissing him, pushing him against her locker.

Rory rolled her eyes at Logan and shrugged helplessly. "You get used to them."

"I'm sure," he replied doubtfully.

"No really," she insisted. "They grow on you."

"Yeah like fungi," Tristan put in, coming up behind Rory and wrapping his arms around her waist.

Rory grinned and placed a kiss on his cheek. "And what have I told you about being cliché?"

Tristan pretended to think for a minute. "That it turns you on?" He smiled wickedly and wiggled his eyebrows suggestively.

Rory laughed and loped her arms around his neck. "That too." She kissed him slowly, not caring about the hallway of people watching and forgetting about Logan until he cleared his throat impatiently.

She pulled away quickly, giggling as Tristan tried to pull her back. "Not now! You have to meet Logan!" She turned to face Logan and smiled apologetically. Gesturing between the two of them, she made introductions. "This is my boyfriend Tristan. Tristan this is my best friend Logan."

Tristan held out a hand, his years of etiquette lessons coming into play. Logan looked like he was an equal and, according to the rumors that Tristan had heard, he was and that meant that he needed to be treated with respect. Logan shook it with obvious reluctance.

"I've heard a lot about you," Tristan said, trying to play nice, knowing that Logan was important to Rory.

"Oh yeah?" Logan replied, looking like he could care less. "Funny, I've heard nothing about you."

Rory swatted his chest immediately. "Logan! What is wrong with you?" She turned to face Tristan. "I'm sorry," she apologized, rolling her eyes. "He's kind of overprotective."

"I'm right here you know," Logan put in unnecessarily.

"Yeah, I know," Rory replied, rolling her eyes. "But until you learn how to play nice, I'm ignoring you."

"I always play nice," Logan retorted suggestively, causing Tristan to tighten his grip on Rory and narrow his eyes. Logan looked to the crowded hallway for a moment before catching the eye of a girl. "Excuse me, there's someone that I'd like to meet."

He walked away without a backward glance causing Rory to roll her eyes. Even though Logan was constantly with other girls, he always made time for Rory when she needed it despite what other people thought.

"So, that's Logan," Tristan finally said.

"Yup," Rory replied, leaning up to give him a kiss. "He's kind of a jerk sometimes when he's doing his overprotective act."

Tristan raised an eyebrow. "Did the two of you ever date?" He tried to keep the suspicion out of his voice but was unsuccessful.

Rory rolled her eyes. "Don't do the jealous bullshit; that gets old really fast."

"I'm not jealous! It was just a question!"

She turned back to her locker and pulled out her notebook, sighing. "I know, I'm sorry," she said quietly. "It's just a lot of people don't get that Logan and I are just friends and are always going to be just friends. Everybody always thinks that someday there's going to be something more and it bothers me."

He placed a hand on her hip and put his chin on her shoulder. "I'm sorry Rory," he murmured. "I was being an idiot."

Rory closed her locker, turned around and, smiling wickedly, pulled at Tristan's tie, bringing him closer and kissing him. He pushed her back into the lockers, his hands on her hips, hers around his neck. They separated almost a minute later when the bell rang.

"I'll see you later?" He whispered against her lips.

"Definitely." She turned and sauntered down the hall, not looking back but knowing that Tristan was watching her walk away.

Tristan remained at Rory's locker for no more than 30 seconds when Logan approached him.

"So you're dating Rory," Logan said finally after sizing Tristan up.

"Yup and you're her best friend."

Logan nodded. "Yeah and that means that it's my duty to kick your ass if you even think about hurting her."

Tristan looked at Logan closely for a minute. "I don't want to hurt her." He paused. "But it really doesn't matter what I say; you're never going to like me."

"Rory deserves the best; nobody's ever going to be good enough for her. I'm not really concerned about you sticking around for long though."

"What the fuck is that supposed to mean?" Tristan was getting angry and it annoyed him further when Logan remained calm.

Logan laughed mockingly. "I've known Rory for years. She dates a guy, they have fun and eventually he falls in love with her; they always do. Whether or not he intended to at first, he becomes serious about her and then she distances herself and dumps him because she can't handle it."

"Why are you telling me this?"

"Just giving you some advanced warning, you know, just in case you wanted to get out now."

Tristan glared angrily at Logan. "What, so you think that I'll dump Rory just because of her past relationships? You're fucking crazy; I don't need to listen to this."

Logan nodded almost as if he expected this answer. "Look, you seem like a nice guy, really, but you're getting too deep too fast and it's going to end soon." He laughed almost scornfully. "You won't last; they never do so why not get out now while your pride's still intact." He turned to walk away and took note of the way that Tristan's eyes narrowed at his words.

Tristan stood there dumbly for almost a minute after the bell, finally just decided to leave the school seeing no point in sticking around knowing that he couldn't concentrate. Logan's words ran through his head on repeat and, when he reviewed his and Rory's relationship, he couldn't help but think that maybe they made sense.

Rory pulled up in her driveway after school and wasn't surprised that her dad's car wasn't there. Chris had been working late nights and weekends for the last month and when he wasn't working he was out with Lisa; she barely saw him and when she did it was only for a minute. She sighed, thinking of the empty house, not wanting to spend the night alone. Making a quick decision, she backed up out of the driveway and drove away.

Tristan was watching T.V. when the doorbell rang and he made an aggravated sound before getting up and making his way towards the door. He had only gone to his first class that day before coming back home, only to sit around all day and broad. As he made his way through the hall, he realized that this day had accomplished nothing and he still didn't know what to do about Logan's advice.

He opened the door and was surprised to see Rory's smiling face.

"Hey," she said, stepping forward and kissing him lightly.

"Hi," he kissed her back before opening the door wider and gesturing for her to come in.

She followed him to his room, knowing as well as he did that all the other rooms were too formal to be considered comfortable. Over the past month she had spent a considerable amount of time at Tristan's and knew her way around quite well. She was also well aware that Tristan's parents were on their second honeymoon in the Bahamas and that he was staying home alone.

"So what are you doing here?" Tristan asked as they arrived at his room. "Not that I'm complaining." He leered at her jokingly.

Rory shrugged. "I don't know. You weren't at school and I missed you." She pouted and sat down on his bed, crossing her arms.

Tristan sat down beside her, putting his arm around her shoulders and holding her close. "I know but it was such a boring day and so I didn't feel like hanging around."

Rory nodded and bit her lip. "It wasn't because of Logan, was it? He didn't say anything to you, did he?"

He looked down at her and saw that this question meant a lot to her, saw that Logan meant a lot to her, more than he did to her and he knew that if it came down to it, she would choose her best friend over her boyfriend.

"No." He shook his head. "Logan said nothing."

"Good," she replied, smiling. "I know he didn't make the best first impression but he's really a great guy. He just thinks of me as a sister and doesn't like me dating, is all."

He nodded, not saying anything for a minute. "So you just decided to come over because you miss me?"

Rory laughed. "Hardly. My dad wasn't home and I didn't want to hang out alone for the rest of the day."

Tristan frowned. "Where's your dad?"

"I don't know, work or something I guess. He hasn't really been around much for the last while."

"I thought you two were close?"

Rory looked down, clearly uncomfortable with the subject and shrugged. She brightened after a minute. "So did you hear about that new movie that's coming out?"

As she went on to describe the movie, Logan's words ran through Tristan's head once again. The two of them never really talked about anything serious, instead concentrating on more shallow topics and, when they weren't talking, they were making out. Tristan didn't even know what the situation with Rory's mom was like but with the way she reacted when asked personal questions, he didn't want to ask. He wondered if Logan knew about Rory's family situation and then hated himself for becoming the jealous boyfriend.

It was almost an hour later and the two of them were lying on Tristan's bed, talking about nothing in particular. Tristan's head was propped up on his arm while Rory was lying flat on her back. Not being able to resist the urge, he leaned down and gently kissed her.

She kissed him back, pulling him down closer to her and running her hands down his back, before pulling off his shirt. He unbuttoned her school blouse, taking his time and making sure that his fingers lightly brushed her chest and stomach as he did so.

He pulled back minutes later when she pulled him even more on top of her, wrapping her legs around him and reached for his belt.

"Rory, we should stop," he whispered, trying to get his breath back.

"No, we shouldn't," she whispered back, nuzzling his neck.

"Rory," he groaned.

She pouted and, reaching up to grab his face, kissed him gently. "Tristan, I want this. Don't you?" Her eyes were wide, her face vulnerable.

With a muttered curse, he leaned down and kissed her passionately, deepening it quickly; showing her in actions rather than words. He pulled her close instead of pushing her away and gently undid her skirt. One look at her face and there was no turning back; all he could do was comply with her wishes and hope that this wouldn't change anything between them. Even as he thought it, he knew that it was fruitless, that everything would be different from there on out.

Afterwards as he lay there, her naked body pressed up against his, his mind raced. He didn't regret it; couldn't regret it but still he was uneasy. He wondered why Logan's word had unsettled him so much; after dating so many girls he had been threatened by so many friends/parents/siblings that finally none of them meant anything to him and he was able to laugh them off. He didn't understand why this time it meant so much more to him, why he was dwelling on it. He sighed, pulling Rory closer to him and resolved not to think of it; for at that moment in time, everything was perfect.


	10. The Truth Comes Out

AN: Okay, I tried to put this chapter up earlier but it wasn't working.. have my fingers crossed for this time! Thanks for the reviews!

Hope you like this chapter!

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Rory woke slowly the next morning, confused and disoriented. It was only once she rolled over and saw Tristan lying next to her that she realized where she was. Looking around the room trying to find a clock, she finally located one and saw that it was almost 3:30 in the morning. Sighing, not wanting to get up, she raised herself up on her elbows and gazed at the sleeping body beside her.

He had seemed odd yesterday when she came to see him; distant and thoughtful. She sighed again, hoping that nothing was wrong but knowing subconsciously that something had changed. Smoothing back the hair from his forehead, she gently shook him awake, smiling when he groaned and rolled away from her. Eventually he stretched and turned towards her, opening his eyes slowly.

"Hey," she whispered, running a hand down his cheek.

"Hi," he whispered back, trying to blink the sleep from his eyes.

"I have to go." She stood up, looking for her clothes which she found were scattered around his room.

"No, you don't." Tristan sat up slightly and grabbed her wrist, pulling her back in bed and making her squeal with surprise. "Stay," he whispered in her ear, his breath hot against her cool neck.

She kissed his cheek, his jaw, the corner of his mouth; everywhere she could reach. "I can't; my dad will be worried."

Tristan sighed, letting her go and watched as she stood up to gather her things. As she started to dress, he groaned in disappointment causing her to smirk at him. After she was fully dressed she walked back over to him and kissed him lightly on the lips.

"I'll see you later."

"Wait," he said struggling to untangle himself from the sheets. "I'll walk you out."

Rory shook her head, laughing. "I've been here enough, I know my way out." She kissed him again. "Go back to sleep."

Finally giving up with his struggle, he leaned forward and kissed her again. "Bye."

She walked out the door without a backwards glance and Tristan fell back in his bed, knowing that this woman was going to be his downfall someday.

By the time Rory reached her home, it was nearing 4:45. She sped up, worried about what her dad would think and how concerned he must be. Shutting her door as quietly as she could as she got out of the car, she made her way up the driveway and to the front door. Making sure that it made the least possible noise when it was shut, she took off her shoes and began to make her way towards her bedroom without turning the lights on. Stumbling a little in the dark, she finally made it up the stairs and to the hall where her room was located. She sped up and tiptoed when she passed her father's room, worried about him seeing her. As she passed she turned and looked inside. There was no one there.

Rory stopped shell-shocked. He wasn't there, he wasn't home. Had he been worried about her and gone to look for her? She took out her cell phone that she had shoved in her pocket and looked at the display screen. No missed calls. The first thing he would have done was call her cell if he had noticed her missing which meant that he had never come home. Her dad always came home, no matter what he had been doing or where he had been; there was never a time that she could remember when he stayed out all night.

Making her way towards her bedroom, mind now muddled with these thoughts, she resolved not to think about it; not wanting it to ruin her already perfect night. As she went to bed however, instead of replaying what had happened that night with Tristan as she had thought she would, only one thought raced through her mind. Where was her dad?

Rory woke up early the next morning, not having slept very well the night before. Making her way towards the kitchen in her pajamas for breakfast, she was surprised when she walked in to see her dad sitting at the table reading a newspaper.

"Hey Rory," he said, putting the paper down and looking at his daughter.

"Hi dad," she murmured in reply, opening the fridge to find food. She didn't know whether to mention anything about him missing the previous night, wasn't sure whether she wanted to know why he hadn't come home.

"There's a party being thrown by my boss tonight and we're supposed to bring our families," Chris said rather formally and Rory wondered when it had come to this.

When had their relationship gotten so strained and how hadn't she noticed it until now?

"Yeah, sure; what time?"

Chris checked a piece of paper that was sitting on the counter. "It starts at 7."

Rory nodded and looked down. "Can I bring Tristan?" She asked, wanting an ally to be there.

He sighed. "No, it's a family thing, no dates."

She nodded again. Maybe it was for the best; she was getting too attached to Tristan as it were. Maybe she should start distancing herself from him so it didn't hurt as much when they broke up which they inevitably would.

"I have to go get dressed," she claimed, quickly leaving the kitchen, ignoring the fact that she hadn't eaten breakfast.

Chris put his head in his hands, knowing that this wouldn't turn out well. His daughter was slipping away from him and it was all his fault. He could do nothing but watch, knowing that it would all come to a head sooner or later. Whether the outcome would be good or bad; he didn't know.

Rory got dressed, taking longer than necessary to do her hair and her make-up. When she heard the front door slam and her dad's car back out of the driveway, she flopped down on her bed. She had no intentions of going to school today; she needed to think and she couldn't do that surrounded by her peers. Not even thinking about what Tristan would assume when she didn't show up at school after their night together, she curled up in a ball, not crying, just reflecting on everything that had happened since she had moved to Hartford and wondering when it had all gone sour.

It was around 4 when the phone rang. Rory had down nothing all day except sit around and feel sorry for herself. Picking up the phone without looking at the caller id, she answered.

"Hello?"

"Hey."

Rory took a deep breath. "Hey Tristan."

"Where were you today?" His voice got lower as he continued. "I missed you."

"I know I'm sorry." She sighed. "I just needed a day to myself."

He was silent for a moment. "This isn't about last night, is it?" He asked his voice hesitant.

"No, no, it had nothing to do with that; last night was great."

"We could have a repeat performance if you'd like."

Rory giggled. "Maybe if you're good."

"I'm always good."

There was a pause in the conversation for a moment before Rory cut in. "Yeah but there's this party that my dad's company's having tonight and so I have to go get ready." She ignored the fact that she still had four hours until they had to go.

"Oh okay, so I'll see you later?"

"Yeah, bye." Rory hung up the phone quickly, wondering why things were so awkward with everyone now.

Tristan sighed, looking at the phone in his hand. She had hung up before he had been able to say good-bye and Logan's words ran through his head again. _'You're getting too deep too fast and it's going to end soon.' _He fell back on his bed, covering his face with a pillow. Would it be better to end everything now rather then hang on to a failing relationship? He shook his head; he was selfish and at the moment he still wanted Rory Hayden. He wouldn't give her up that easily.

There was silence in the car as they drove to the event, something that rarely happened between the father-daughter duo.

"You look nice," Chris finally said and it was true. His daughter looked so grown up in her black dress; he couldn't believe that this was his little girl.

"Thanks, daddy," she replied looking at her hands awkwardly. She wished this night was over, wished that everything could go back to normal.

He held out his arm for her as they got out of the car, giving the keys to the valet, and stared at the gigantic house in front of them. She took it and they walked up the driveway together, both dreading this night but for different reasons.

Champagne flowed and the lights were dimmed in the ballroom. People who hated each other mingled peacefully, the art of deception long since mastered. Rory and Chris walked in side by side; once again it was the two of them against the world, although at the moment it didn't feel like it.

"Christopher!" A large man in a blue suit bellowed excitedly. "You made it!"

"Ian! Good to see you," Chris replied with fake heartiness.

He shook Chris' hand and then turned to Rory expectantly.

"Ian this is my daughter Rory. Rory, sweetheart, this is my boss Ian."

Rory faked a sweet smile. "It's nice to meet you Ian," she said, shaking his offered hand and trying not to grimace.

"You too, darling, you too. Beautiful girl," he remarked to Chris as if he didn't know this. "Anyway Chris, there are some people that are dying to meet you. If I could steal your dad away for a moment." Before Rory could reply, Chris was whisked off to a group a people, giving her an apologetic look on his way.

She sighed, making her way towards the bar; she had stuck her fake id in her purse on her way out and she was in desperate need of a drink. Before she was able to order anything, she became aware of a presence beside her. Turning, she expected to see an exuberant businessman and instead saw a familiar boy. She stared at him, racking her brain for his name which she was positive she knew.

"Devin Martin." She finally said aloud, pleased with herself. He turned after hearing his name and looked at her curiously. She smiled sheepishly. "I'm sorry, I'm Rory Hayden; I go to Chilton with you."

He nodded, looking down at the coke in his hand. "I know who you are."

Rory looked uncomfortable for a moment. She wasn't used to people not caring about her or what she was saying. "So, I didn't expect to see you here; I thought that I would be the only one under 30 actually."

Devin smiled slightly, "Yeah, I got dragged here because my dad just got a job with this company."

Rory laughed. "Mine too! I wonder if they know each other." She wasn't really interested but she was bored and since Devin was the only one for her to talk to, she decided to make conversation no matter how uncomfortable it would be.

"Who's your dad?"

"Christopher Hayden."

Devin's face paled and he stared at Rory in shock. She didn't notice as she was leaning against the wall surveying the party. After a moment he spoke, "Nope, don't know him."

Rory looked at him and shrugged. "Oh well, it doesn't really matter does it? So how do you like Chilton so far?"

He shrugged. "It's alright, I guess."

Rory smiled, judging his expression. "You hate it."

He nodded before he knew what he was doing. "Yeah, it's awful."

There was a pause where nobody said anything and then Devin straightened considerably, looking at a group of people. "My step-mom wants to see me," he said, walking away into the crowd before Rory could reply.

She sighed; she was alone once more. Pushing herself off of the wall, she decided to wander around a little and look at the house; it looked pretty cool from what she'd seen so far. Looking around at the party once more for her father, she wandered out the side door and down the hall. The first couple of rooms were boring; a study, a bedroom and a bathroom. Finally she found a library with big, comfy seats facing away from the doors so that no one would see her if they walked by. She curled up, tucking her legs underneath herself and sighed.

It had to have been at least 20 minutes later that she heard voices approaching and she sunk down in her seat. Rory felt like being alone and really didn't want to have to deal with people. The two arguing people walked into the room and she curled herself up into a tighter ball. She was shocked when she realized that one of the voices belonged to her father.

"Why haven't you told her yet?" A female's voice demanded making Rory frown.

"How do you expect me to tell her?" Her dad's voice was bitter; more bitter than she had ever heard him.

"I don't know; just tell her! Get it over with; be a man!"

"Don't pin this on me; this is all your fault!"

"My fault? How is it my fault?"

"How is it your fault? Well let me see," Chris said, sarcastically. "You left Rory and me when she was born, you didn't call and you didn't write. We're happy now, we have everything together and now that you have a new family you suddenly decide that you want to be in her life? News flash Lorelai, it doesn't work that way!" Rory's eyes widened, her mouth a perfect 'O'.

"I gave you a choice! I said that you didn't have to tell her if you didn't want to; that it was up to you!"

"Your step-son goes to Chilton! She will find out eventually and I want it to be from me, not from her peers!"

Rory couldn't take it anymore; her head was spinning and she had never been more confused, more hurt. She stood up, not looking either of them in the eye. "Don't worry about it, dad. I just heard it from you."

Barely registering their shocked faces, she made her way out of the library and back into the ballroom, reaching the front doors without remembering how she got there. Pulling out her cell phone as the tears began to fall, she dialed a familiar number.

"Rory?" He had thought that she would be at that party thing until late and hadn't been expecting to see her name on the caller id.

"Tristan? I need a ride." She tried to keep her voice from breaking as she spoke but was unsuccessful.

"I'll be right there."

True to his word, not five minutes later he was pulling up. He jumped out of the car and, after spotting Rory, walked towards her.

"Hey," he whispered, gently reaching up and wiping the tears trickling down her cheeks. She didn't reply, just pressed her face against his chest, inhaling shakily. "C'mon," he said, guiding her towards the car. "Let's go."

Tears trickled down her face the entire ride to Tristan's house and he watched her concernedly out of the corner of his eye. The drive seemed to take hours; although it was less than ten minutes later when they pulled into his garage.

He led her through his house and into his room, sitting her down on his bed and getting her a glass of water. Smoothing the hair from her face, he gently wiped away the tears that were rapidly falling.

"What's wrong, Ror?" He asked, gently.

She shook her head, nestling her face in his neck and shaking with repressed sobs. He pulled her into his arms, holding her for what seemed like hours as she cried violently. He knew that she wasn't ready to talk about it but hoped that she would be able to tell him eventually.

Finally Rory pulled away, wiping the traitorous tears stubbornly. Tristan's concerned face looked at her as she pulled away and she sighed.

"I should go," she murmured quietly.

He looked at her in shock; that wasn't what he expected her to say. "What happened Rory?" He asked again.

"Nothing." She looked away, not meeting his eyes.

"It wasn't nothing," he insisted. "Something made you upset."

"Why don't you believe me? It's none of your business."

Tristan stepped back away from Rory indignantly. "It's none of my business? I'm your boyfriend! I think that something that causes you to come to me sobbing is my business!"

Rory shook her head. "Why are you making this out to be such a big deal? I just don't want to talk to you right now!"

"You come to me crying and you expect me not to ask questions?"

"No, I expect you to respect my wishes to not talk about it!"

Tristan knew that he should stop talking, that he should back down but he couldn't. "You have to talk about it Rory, you can't keep everything bottled up!"

"I will!" She took a deep breath, trying to calm down. Realizing that if there was ever an opportune moment to end a relationship, this was it; she continued. "I will talk about; just not with you."

He looked as if she had hit him. "And what's that supposed to mean? You can sleep with me but you can't talk to me?"

"C'mon Tristan, do you really expect me to tell you everything?"

"No, but I expect you to at least talk to me!"

"Don't do this guilt-trip bullshit! It's not like you ever talk to me!"

"I try, Rory. God knows I've tried." He rubbed a tired hand over his face; it wasn't supposed to be like this. "I thought we had something." His voice was quiet as he spoke; quiet and vulnerable.

"What, you thought that we were in love or something?" She smiled coldly, reverting to a Rory that Tristan had never seen before. She looked thoughtful for a moment. "Do you love me?"

He shook his head. "Does it have to be like that? We're either in love or we're over; nothing in between. Is that how you want it to be?"

She paused, knowing that her answer would change everything between them. As she had with every relationship before Tristan, she picked the easy road once again. "Yes."

Tristan nodded, slowly, trying to hide the hurt in his eyes. "Then we're over."

Rory didn't reply, turning towards the door and leaving without a backwards glance. Tristan sighed, trying to stop the tears from forming, wanting to take his anger out on anything; everything. Falling back on his bed, he closed his eyes and willed himself to sleep, knowing that everything always looked better in the morning.

Rory walked straight to her room after the cab dropped her off. She knew that she shouldn't be upset about Tristan; knew that she was the one who ended their relationship but this knowledge didn't stop the tears from falling. She hated who she had become; hated the hurt that she had seen in his eyes; it wasn't supposed to be like this. It had supposed to have ended peacefully, calmly like all of her other previous relationships. What had been so different about this one? With that thought in mind, Rory flopped onto her half-made bed and eventually fell into a restless sleep.

The next morning she woke up slowly and looked at the time, noticing that it was early. She felt awful, her eyes were like sandpaper and she could barely summon up the strength to move. Her head spun as she remembered the events of the night before and she willed herself not to cry again. Getting up finally, she made her way downstairs to the kitchen. She paused in the doorway when she noticed her father sitting at the table seemingly waiting for her. After a silent debate with herself, she walked in and headed for the fridge, not even sparing a glance at Chris.

"Hey Ror," he said quietly, fiddling with his napkin as he did so. When she didn't say anything he continued. "I was going to tell you, I just didn't know how."

Suddenly anger filled her and she turned around violently. "You were going to tell me? Going to tell me isn't good enough!" As quick as the anger came it disappeared and sadness replaced it. "You should have told me the minute you found out."

Chris nodded. "I know, I know but I didn't want everything to change between us."

"A little late for that, isn't it?"

"C'mon Rory, don't be like this!"

Evidently this was the wrong thing to say as Rory turned and walked out of the room, unwanted tears streaming down her face. She ignored her father's calls, slamming her door to her bedroom and flopping facedown on her bed. After hearing the front door close and her father's car drive away, she picked up the phone and dialed.

"Logan?" She tried to stop her voice from breaking but it wavered anyway. "I need you. Can you come over?"

Tristan Dugrey looked around the school that he had dominated since he was a freshman and felt empty. Word had not yet got out about his and Rory's breakup and it hurt when people came up and asked him where she was. He lied every time, not wanting to admit the truth even to himself. He didn't understand why she wasn't here when it was obvious to him that she hadn't cared about the ending of their relationship; that is was all just a game to her. Sighing, he continued the usual motions without any thought, willing himself not to care, not to feel.

At the end of the day it had become obvious to the majority of the students that something had happened between their golden couple. Tristan became withdrawn and quiet when asked about his girlfriend and Rory was suspiciously absent for the second day in a row. It didn't escape anyone's notice that Logan Huntzberger had skipped school that day either and rumors began to fly. Tristan, everyone noticed, didn't react when presented with this news but they didn't see how his fists clenched, how his casual smirk grew fake. It was then that Tristan vowed to himself that he would never let Lorelai Leigh Hayden hurt him again.


	11. Recovery and Forgiveness

A/N: I'm going to try to have this whole story up by Thursday at the latest because I'm going away for Spring Break and I don't want to leave you guys hanging for two weeks... Thanks again for all the reviews, here's the next chapter. Enjoy!

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Logan had never seen Rory like this before and it scared him. He had seen her cry before, seen her angry but had never seen her break down so completely. Feeling somewhat guilty, he catered to her every whim for the day, making trips to the grocery store so that she had everything that she might need.

He hadn't meant to mess things up between Tristan and Rory; hadn't meant to make his best friend cry and it was killing him that he did. Even knowing that the tears were partially caused from what her dad had done didn't help for despite what Rory wanted to think, Logan knew that breaking up with Tristan had really hurt her.

It was around noon and Rory was lying on the couch with her head in Logan's lap. She had cried for hours, great heaving sobs and now she was just staring off into space. Smoothing her damp hair away from her face, Logan tried to think of something that would take her mind away from her troubles.

"Remember how we first met?" He asked quietly.

Rory gave a watery chuckle. "Of course I do. I saved you."

Logan rolled his eyes and poked her, happy to hear her laugh. "You didn't save me."

"Yes I did, you were about to get in major trouble, maybe expelled and I took the blame for you. Thus, I saved you." She sat up a bit, stretching her cramping muscles slightly. "You've saved me more than once since then though," she added quietly.

Logan's heart broke at her words and the voice that she said them in. "What are you talking about Ror?"

She laughed bitterly. "Everything in my life always becomes so fucked up and you're always here to help me pick up the pieces."

"That's not true. You're strong; you probably don't even need me."

Rory shook her head and looked up at Logan seriously. "You're the only person I can count on; I need you." Her voice was solemn when she continued, "You're my best friend."

He pulled her closer to him, caught up in the moment. "You're my best friend, too." He paused for a moment. "Tristan was an idiot."

Rory looked up curiously. "For what?" She laughed bitterly again. "I dumped him."

He looked down at her, not expecting that. "I thought he broke up with you?"

She shook her head, trying to hide the tears that were threatening to fall. "No, we got into this huge fight about the lack of communication and then I told him that he either loves me or we're over."

"And he told you that he didn't love you?"

She shook her head again. "He asked me whether that was the only option; whether there was any in between. I told him that it was the only option and that there's no in between and so we broke up." She paused a moment, not bothering to wipe the tears that were streaming down her face. "I mean, I guess in the end he broke up with me but it was my fault, you know?"

Logan nodded slowly, trying to piece everything together. "Was this whole lack of communication thing out of the blue?"

She thought for a moment. "I guess in a way it was." She paused, gathering her thoughts. "But he asked me questions sometimes about my mom and stuff and I always just changed the topic so maybe it just finally all came together."

Logan loved Rory like a sister and he knew what he was about to say might ruin everything. They had gotten past a lot in their four years of friendship and although Rory had gone through countless break-ups, this was the first one that had really fazed her. He hated to know that he caused it.

"I talked to Tristan," he blurted out and then felt stupid for not easing his way into it.

She sat up. "You what?"

"I talked to Tristan. A couple days ago, right after you introduced us. I told him that you weren't serious about him, that you were going to dump him soon. I told him that he should get out of it if he wanted to leave with his pride intact." He sighed and looked at Rory. "I'm sorry," he whispered.

"What did he say in return?"

"He called me crazy and told me to fuck off."

Rory nodded, her anger ebbing away and she put her head back down on Logan's lap. "It wasn't your fault. We would've ended eventually, maybe its better that it ends now."

He shook his head. "Yeah but how do you know that? Maybe the two of you would've been great together."

"All good things come to an end," she said, her voice matter of fact. "You know this better than anyone. Me and you, we're two peas of a pod."

He nodded, running a hand down her cheek. "Yeah," he said quietly but all he could think of was Rory's face when he came to the door that morning and Tristan's face when he had told him about Rory's past. Logan knew that he had really messed up and this time, there was no sure way to get out of it.

The next morning, Chilton was abuzz with the news that Rory Hayden and Logan Huntzberger had arrived at school together, with his arm around her shoulders. The rumors followed them as they made their way to first Logan's and then Rory's locker. Abby and Alex were there to greet them when they arrived at Rory's locker.

"Hey," Abby said sympathetically as Rory spun the combination on her lock.

Rory managed a grin and said, "Hi."

Abby looked at Rory from top to bottom and nodded in approval at what she saw. It wasn't anything spectacular, it was just the way that Rory usually came dressed for school but it showed that she wasn't completely depressed over her break up. She had had to use more cover up and less blush than usual but other than that everything was the same.

Logan leaned against the locker next to Rory's on the opposite side of Alex and Abby. He picked up Rory's backpack and opened it, beginning to take out all of her books that hadn't been touched since they had been put in there.

"So I guess everyone knows, huh?" Rory asked dully. She had gone through countless days after breakups but none of them seemed to be as horrible as this one was already.

"Well if they didn't they sure do now," Alex commented, looking at something over Rory's shoulder and scowling.

The four of them turned to see Tristan kissing another girl on the cheek who giggled and blushed. Rory quickly turned back to her locker, trying to hide the tears in her eyes.

"What a bastard," Alex growled. Abby nodded in agreement while Logan glared before turning to Rory, his face softening.

"We can go," he suggested quietly. "Skip the day and drive around. We can even go to New York if you want." He tugged on a piece of her hair gently. "You love New York; it would be awesome."

Alex and Abby nodded, showing their support.

Rory sighed. "That's sweet you guys but it's not that big of a deal; breakups happen all the time. Besides, I broke up with him; he has every right to see other girls."

She picked up her notebook, closed her locker and took off down the hall on the way to class, going in the opposite direction than where Tristan and the girl were. Walking into her class confidently, she took her usual seat at the back of class.

"Did you hear that she cheated on Tristan with that new guy Logan?"

"What a slut."

Rory tried to ignore the whispers and the stares, knowing that they were all lies but they hurt anyway. She frowned when the girl who was with Tristan that morning walked in smiling, obviously walking on air. It made her feel worse to know that she used to be like that but she gave it all up because she was scared; hell, she was still scared. No breakup had affected her this much before and that unnerved her.

Finally reaching lunch, Rory took a seat at her usual table, smiling when Logan joined her. He reached for a chip from the open bag in front of her, but his hand was slapped away.

"No! They're mine," Rory said pouting.

Logan scowled playfully. "And here I thought what's yours is mine," he retorted.

Rory went still, remembering Tristan speaking similar words before they started dating, when everything was simpler. Abby waved her hands behind Rory to Logan, signaling for him not to say any more.

"Actually you know what? I'm not hungry; you can have them." Rory pushed her chips towards Logan and stood up, leaving the cafeteria quickly before anyone could say anything.

"I'm an idiot," Logan said, putting his head in his hands. "I don't even know what happened."

Alex shrugged. "I don't get what happened either."

"You're both idiots," Abby put in. "Logan just said what Tristan just said to her before they started dating."

Alex looked at her in amazement. "How do you remember that?"

She shrugged. "Lack of anything better to do."

Rory walked out of the cafeteria not knowing where to go. She knew that she was being stupid, that she had overreacted but she was obviously still not over Tristan. Wondering whether she would ever be over Tristan, she was pushed out of her thoughts when she bumped into someone.

"Oh, sorry," she mumbled, looking up to see Devin Martin standing there.

He shrugged. "Not a problem." He paused for a minute, looking at her face. "Are you okay?"

Sighing she replied, "No not really."

"Want to talk about it?"

"Not really."

He nodded easily, respecting her wish for privacy. "I lied," he said suddenly.

She looked at him curiously, wondering what he could've lied about. "About what?"

He sighed. "Remember at the party a couple days ago?" At her nod he continued. "We were talking about our dads and you asked if I knew yours. I said no and that was a lie."

Rory nodded, not really wanted to talk about her dad with an almost stranger. "That's nice. I should be-"

Devin cut her off. "He dated my step-mom." He paused. "And they had a kid together."

Her eyes widened as she realized the implications of that statement. "Your step-mom is Lorelai?"

He nodded, looking at his feet. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you earlier. I didn't know until after parent's night a month or so ago. I wanted to say something but mom said that your dad was going to tell you."

"Great job he did of that," Rory retorted bitterly. She thought over what he had just said. "You call her mom?"

Devin nodded. "Yeah, she's been more of a mom to me than mine ever was."

She snorted. "That's ironic. The mother that's never cared about me, cares more about you than yours did." She paused. "I should be going." She turned around to leave.

"She does care, you know. She talks about you all the time," Devin called after her.

Rory turned back around and he was shocked to see tears in her eyes. "You don't know shit. If she cared about me she wouldn't have left. If I had meant anything to her, I would have seen more than pictures of her while I was growing up."

"She was scared, Rory. You can't blame her for that."

"So was my dad and he managed to stick around!"

Devin sighed. "I know that everything's fucked up right now but it will get better. I know that you and mom- Lorelai- will never have that great of a relationship but don't you think that you'll wake up one morning and regret not trying? She's not perfect but she's trying to fix things, get everything together."

Rory stared at him in shock for a moment, never having heard Devin string that many words together before. When she finally spoke her voice was defeated, "I don't think I can ever forgive her."

"You don't need to; just get to know her."

She finally nodded. "I'll think about it." She hesitated momentarily. "Thanks, Devin."

"No problem." He shoved his hands in his pockets and watched as she started to walk around. "Oh wait!" He pulled out his wallet and opened it, taking out a picture. "Here." He handed it to her and turned, walking down the hall.

Rory stared at the picture in her hand. It was of a little girl not older than four wearing a pair of pink overalls and grinning at the camera. She had brown hair and bright blue eyes and Rory knew who she was right away. Turning over the picture, she read the back. Rebecca Elizabeth Martin, Age 4. This was her little sister, the little sister that Rory had never met.

Putting the picture in her pocket, Rory turned to walk down the hall but was blocked by someone.

"Making a date already? And here I thought I was special," Tristan said sarcastically, his words cutting through her like a knife.

"Don't play the bitter ex, Tristan. It doesn't become you."

He rolled his eyes. "Whatever." He went to brush past her when she started talking again.

"He's my step-brother, you know." Tristan stopped and stared at Rory. "My mother married his father."

He closed his eyes for a moment before opening them again and looking at Rory. "That's just the point Ror, I didn't know," he said softly. "That's the problem."

Again he turned to walk away and again she said something before he could. "I'm sorry, okay?"

He looked back at her sadly and could tell that she was close to crying. He didn't want to admit that he wasn't that far from it himself. "I know, but sometimes sorry just isn't enough."

This time he turned and walked away down the hall without her calling after him and he wished he had never said anything to her in the first place. Maybe he would be better off if he just avoided her from now on. He arrived at his locker and was surprised to see Logan Huntzberger standing there waiting for him.

"What, come to kick my ass for hurting her?" Tristan asked before he could help himself; he was mad and Logan seemed like the logical person to take it out on.

"Was it because of what I said that you guys broke up?" Logan cut straight to the chase.

Tristan snorted. "Don't think so much of yourself Huntzberger; it had nothing to do with you."

"I think that it did."

"Wow, somebody should give you a prize; you can actually think!"

"Why are you being such a jackass? I'm trying to help!"

Tristan leaned against his locker, scowling at Logan. "Don't you get it? I don't need your help; Rory and I are done! End of story."

He took off down the hall, tired of confrontations. Deciding that he didn't want to spend the rest of the day pretending that everything was okay, he headed towards the parking lot. Getting in his car; he once again wondered if he should just give in and get back together with Rory even though he knew that everything would never be the same. He sighed realizing that he needed time and Rory needed time. Only once they had had some time apart could they decide what they really want.

Rory trudged into her house after school. Her day had been filled with whispers and stares and she had felt awful after her confrontation with Tristan. She had spent the remainder of the day trying to avoid thinking about it. Constantly looking at the picture in her pocket had helped and she realized that she wanted to meet her sister. She wondered whether she went by Rebecca or Becky and what she liked to do. She sighed and headed towards the kitchen. She had seen her dad's car in the driveway and she was ready to talk.

"Hi," she said simply, startling Chris from the newspaper that he was reading.

"Hey kiddo," he replied, looking at his daughter surprised that she was looking at him never mind speaking to him. "You're talking to me?"

"I might have overreacted." Rory bit her lip, looking down at her feet.

"No, no sweetheart, you didn't overreact." He stood up, looking with concern at his daughter. "I should have told you sooner."

"You should have told me." She paused. "It hurt that I found out the way that I did and that you didn't tell me."

"I know, I know. I was scared." Chris looked away embarrassed. "I thought that you might want to live with Lorelai and her family." At Rory's shocked look he explained further. "When you were little, every holiday you asked for your mom to come home. I was worried that once your mom finally did come back, you'd want to be with her. You know, be part of a real family."

"That's stupid."

He sighed. "I know."

Rory stepped forward and hugged Chris. "We are a real family but thanks for caring so much," she whispered in his ear.

"I'll never stop."

They sat down at the kitchen table. Everything might not have been solved but they were getting there.

"So I talked to Devin," Rory said, smiling slightly.

"Devin?"

"Devin Martin."

"Oh, that Devin."

"He gave me a picture of Rebecca."

"Rebecca?"

"My half-sister."

Chris nodded. "Oh yeah, I remember Lorelai mentioning her. She sounds like she's quite a kid." He paused. "But of course she can never compare with you."

Rory laughed. "You're my dad, you have to say that." She thought for a minute. "I want to meet her."

He nodded. "I can arrange it if you'd like."

"I would."

Hours later the father-daughter duo were sitting in the living room eating pizza and watching a movie. As the credits rolled, Chris turned to Rory.

"So you haven't mentioned Tristan yet tonight. It used to be that you couldn't go ten minutes without talking about him."

Rory froze. "We broke up," she said, looking down at her hands.

He reached for her hand, holding it comfortingly. "I'm sorry sweetheart," he said, his voice soft. "He's an idiot."

She laughed half-heartedly. "I broke up with him."

Chris looked at her in confusion, frowning. "I thought that the two of you were getting along so well. It seemed like you really liked him. What happened?"

She sighed. "I don't know, I guess I got scared. I relied on him so much and I'm not used to relying on anyone, you know?"

"Of course I know. What do you think has ended the majority of my relationships?" He laughed almost bitterly. "Like father like daughter, I guess."

Rory nodded before sighing. "Everything's so messed up now," she whispered, tears threatening to fall.

"Do you love him?" Chris asked carefully.

She shook her head. "No." She paused thoughtfully. "But I think I could have someday."

"Then everything will work out in the end, trust me."

Rory wanted to trust him, wanted the reassurance that everything would be okay but she wasn't so sure that she believed him. With the way things were going, she would be surprised if Tristan and her ever became friends again, let alone boyfriend and girlfriend. She sighed, listening to her dad talk about his relationship with Lisa and realized that that was her problem in the first place; she didn't have faith. From then on, Rory vowed that she would have faith that everything would work out in the end; it had to.


	12. Going in Circles

AN: Second update today- enjoy!

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It was almost a week later and Rory was at a party. She hadn't wanted to go initially; having spent the last few days watching Tristan with girls all over him hadn't left her in the best mood, but Logan finally convinced her. Currently she was leaning against a wall, her fourth drink in hand, feeling a little tipsy. She could see Logan at the opposite end of the room flirting with a cute brunette and she smiled reassuringly at him when he looked in her direction. He had spent the first hour after they had arrived checking up on Rory every fifteen minutes to make sure that she was alright and didn't want to leave. Although it was sweet, she eventually convinced him to go have fun and not to worry about her but even then he kept constantly looking over to make sure that she was okay.

Wearing dark jeans and a simple tank top, she felt slightly out of place with her elaborately and scantily dressed classmates but she didn't let it bother her. She didn't let it bother her that was, until she saw one of those particular classmates leading Tristan onto the dance floor. Dancing at these parties meant nothing more than rubbing up against each other almost like foreplay, and Rory really didn't want to watch her ex-boyfriend do this with another girl. Trying to fight back the tears coming to her eyes, she put her drink down and walked out the door, ignoring the concerned looks being sent her way.

Rory found herself out on a balcony that faced an expansive garden, complete with fountain. She could still hear the faint sounds of music from behind the closed door.

"Hey!"

She turned to see Abby in the door way, smiling sympathetically.

"Hey." She forced a smile, turning back to look at the view.

"It's sick isn't it?"

"What is?" Rory replied, even though she didn't want to. She knew that Abby was talking about Tristan and she really didn't want anyone's sympathy; she had dumped him, not the other way around.

"This," Abby said, waving an arm around, gesturing to something that Rory was unsure about. Seeing her look, Abby elaborated. "All of this, the huge house that is barely lived in, the huge gardens that nobody takes the time to walk through. What a waste."

"Yeah."

Abby looked sideways at her friend. "I'm not doing a good job, am I?"

"A good job at what?"

"Distracting you."

"There's nothing to distract me from."

Abby snorted. "Don't play stupid sweetheart, we all saw it."

Rory shrugged, looking away. "Maybe I deserve it, you know? I dumped him, not the other way around. It was my decision and so what if I'm regretting it? I don't want anyone's sympathy."

Abby rolled her eyes. "You know for someone who doesn't want sympathy, you have a pretty nice little speech there that's practically screaming for it." She patted Rory on the back, making her way towards the door and back to the party. "Just think about what you really want, okay?"

Rory scowled as Abby left, hating that her words had made her think, hating that she was maybe right. Sighing, she put her entire weight on the railings, gazing off into space but not really seeing anything.

It was almost twenty minutes later that Logan found her. He stepped out on the balcony, shutting the door quietly behind him. Rory didn't turn around and so he went to stand beside her.

"Beautiful night," he commented idly. She nodded in agreement but didn't reply. He sighed. "What do you want me to say Rory?"

She shrugged and was horrified to find out that tears were streaming down her face. "I hate crying," she whispered, desperately wiping at her cheeks. "But it's all I seem to be doing lately."

Logan put an arm around his best friend, sighing as she pressed her face against his chest. "I know you do," he replied, his voice low. "And I know that everything's pretty fucked up right now but it'll get better. You and your dad are talking again and you're actually getting along with Devin." He paused for a moment, knowing that she wouldn't like what he had to say. "Maybe this thing with Tristan just isn't meant to be."

"What?" She asked, pulling back her head.

He sighed, shoving his hands in his pockets. "He's moving on and maybe you should too. You can't cry every time he looks at another girl, Ror. And I mean, you say that you didn't love him, so why are you so bent out of shape over it?"

"Excuse me? It's been a week Logan, only a fucking week!"

He scoffed. "You used to have a new guy by the next day." He sighed again, something he found himself doing a lot lately. "I guess I just don't understand; what's so special about this guy?"

"That's just it; I don't know. He's rude, obnoxious and arrogant as hell." She looked wistful for a moment, obviously deep in a memory. "But then there's these moments where it's just the two of us, you know? And he'll be the sweetest guy in the world, someone that I could really imagine myself with."

Logan nodded slowly. "I can't say that I understand because honestly, that doesn't make sense to me. There must be millions of guys in the world like that; hell I'm one of those guys, Rory. It's just an act, there's nothing to it."

She shook her head stubbornly. "It wasn't an act; we had something."

"Maybe you just thought that the two of you had something. I mean, you only dated for a month or so."

"I didn't 'just think'! We did have something!"

He took a deep breath, not wanting to start a fight. "Want to get out of here? We can still catch a late movie if we leave quick enough."

At Rory's nod, he placed a hand at the small of her back, guiding her towards the door. He opened the door to find Tristan on the other side, preparing to go to the balcony himself.

"Hey." Rory's voice was surprised, low and vulnerable.

"Hi." Tristan looked awkward, almost as if he wasn't sure how he ended up there.

Logan sighed, knowing that despite that his brotherly instincts were telling him to stick around, to make sure that Rory's heart didn't get broken, he should leave. "I'll be inside," he whispered to her, squeezing her arm on his way to the door. He nodded to Tristan, knowing that he didn't have to say anything.

"So, how are you?" Tristan finally asked after a moment of uncomfortable silence. He couldn't help but notice both the tear tracks on Rory's face and her red eyes.

"I've been better," she replied, swiping at her cheeks self-consciously, feeling hideous compared to the perfectly made up girls inside. "How about you?"

He nodded. "The same."

They stood there for a moment, just staring at each other before Rory spoke. "When did everything get so weird between us?" Her voice was sad and her tone was defeated.

"I think it was around the moment that you said it was over," he remarked bitterly.

"I never said that! You ended it!"

"I didn't have a choice! You gave me an ultimatum and maybe my answer didn't satisfy you but at least I didn't lie!" He thought for a moment before continuing. "But it didn't matter what I answered, did it? If I had told you that I loved you, you would've run scared, wouldn't you?"

"Do you? Love me, I mean."

"God Rory, is that all you care about? We're only seventeen!"

"Just answer the question Tristan!"

"No, I don't. But maybe I could have, maybe with time I would have."

She nodded, not all that surprised by his answer. "Relationships without love don't last anyway, maybe its better that we got out of it now."

"What kind of bullshit is that?"

"Excuse me?"

Tristan laughed, almost bitterly. "Is that what you really think Rory? That you either love someone now or you never will? That's not how it works; that's not reality."

"Fuck reality!"

"You're being stupid Rory; you can't have it both ways. You can't end things between us and then act like I'm cheating on you every time I talk to a girl. That's not the way things work!"

She took a deep breath, trying to subdue the tears welling up inside. "Maybe I didn't want to end things with you, maybe I made a mistake."

He shook his head. "We didn't talk, Ror," he said quietly. "It would have ended eventually, probably pretty soon. You just sped it along a little."

"What if I want to fix everything, what if I want to be with you?" Tears were streaming down her face now but she did nothing to stop them.

"I don't think that it would work."

"It doesn't matter that you think that it wouldn't work! Live in the now! We had fun together, didn't we?"

"That's just the problem; all we had was fun and that's great sometimes but I want more substance in my relationships."

"So you're saying that I'm shallow?"

Tristan took a deep breath, wishing for patience. "Look at us Rory. We've been talking to each other for two minutes and already we're fighting." His voice was soft as he spoke and he looked directly into her eyes. "Doesn't that tell you something?"

Rory looked directly at him. "It tells me that this will be hard, that we'll have to work at it. But it also tells me that it's worth it, that our relationship will never be boring." She sighed when she saw Tristan's skeptical look. "You know what? I don't want to have to convince you to be in a relationship with me."

She turned away towards the door, ready to leave, ready to get over Tristan Dugrey. She was stopped when she heard his laughter behind her.

"What's so funny?" She asked, hurt that he could be laughing when she could practically hear her heart breaking.

"We are so fucked up Rory." He smiled at her as though he was sharing a secret. "One second I'm trying to convince you to have a relationship, the next you're trying to convince me. We are never going to be on the same page are we?" He chuckled. "It'll make this relationship much more interesting won't it?"

"You want a relationship with me?"

He shrugged, smirking. "Well not really but you know, I feel sorry for you and so I suppose that I'll go out with you," he replied sarcastically before laughing. "Yeah, I want a relationship with you Rory."

She smiled still a little shaken from the recent events. "I changed my mind. Like I'd go out with you," she said mock-disgustedly, tossing her hair arrogantly. For the first time in almost a week, she felt like herself again.

"That's a shame." His voice was low as he stepped closer to her. "Probably means that I shouldn't be doing this." He stepped even closer, sliding his arms around her waist. "Or this." He leaned down and pressed his lips to hers.

"Nope, definitely should not be doing that." She stepped back a little once they had broke apart, smiling up in his eyes. She leaned up and kissed him, enjoying the feeling that she hadn't experienced in almost a week.

They stood there for a moment, reveling in the feeling of being back together again. Rory leaned her head against Tristan's chest and he wrapped his hands tighter around her waist. She looked up as the songs inside changed and a familiar song drifted out to them.

"It's our song," she said smiling.

Tristan shook his head. "You want to dance?"

"It's Nirvana, Tristan, you can't dance to Nirvana," Rory said grinning, reminding Tristan of his words from almost a month ago. Despite her words she stepped even closer, putting her arms around his neck.

They danced slowly, despite the fast beat. Staring into each other's eyes, they smiled self-consciously and weren't able to keep the grins off of their faces.

An hour later the two of them found themselves sitting on the floor of Tristan's room talking about everything and anything that came to mind. Rory laughed as Tristan finished telling a story about his childhood imaginary friend and nudged his foot with hers. They hadn't intended on going back to his place after they left the party but somehow they ended up there, despite the bad memories that had been created almost a week ago.

Tristan took a swig of his drink, glaring playfully at Rory who was still laughing. "Okay, it's your turn now."

Sobering up quickly, she thought for a minute. "Alright, I'll tell you about the first time that I met Logan." She looked at Tristan who nodded, leaning back against the bed. "Okay, so there I was, a gorgeous, smart, perfect, innocent thirteen year old girl at boarding school for the first time. I usually didn't go to boarding school because I moved so much with dad but this time his job had like a million business trips involved so he decided that it would be best."

He rolled his eyes. "Get on with the story."

She pouted. "Mean! Anyway so there I was outside reading a book because I didn't really know anyone that well yet. And all of a sudden I hear this yelling and I look over to see a teacher yelling at this guy for doing something."

"And this guy was Logan?"

"The one and only. So I happen to overhear and find out that he just got accused of playing a prank on the school and because I'm such a nice person-" she glared at Tristan as he snorted- "I covered for him. I said to the teacher that I did it and it was all my fault and because they didn't have any evidence to the contrary, I got blamed and had to serve two months detention. Logan and I became friends after that because he was going to be expelled and I saved him."

Tristan nodded. "I can see you doing that." He paused for a second, looking at Rory curiously. "What did Logan do anyway?"

"Painted all the windows in the school black; very unoriginal I know."

He just laughed in response.

It was odd but they didn't mind that they had spent that time apart; sure it had been a black period in Rory's life, but it had brought them closer together. As they sat there reveling in the silence, Rory realized that even though they were back together, it would still be a while before they were back to normal and somehow she didn't mind. What did being normal matter anyway?

"My mom came back last week," Rory blurted out suddenly, feeling like she owed Tristan to tell him why she had come to him crying that night.

"You don't have to tell me this Ror," Tristan murmured reassuringly, reaching for her hand. He knew that she was going to tell him anyway.

"She just took off seventeen years ago and suddenly she's back expecting me to be okay with it. It's hard, you know? She named me after herself too, like she was a good person or something but she's not. What kind of person just leaves their kid like the second after their born and doesn't look back? All I had growing up was a fucking photograph and a name and that's worth shit!"

"I'm sorry."

She snorted. "Don't be; you had nothing to do with it." She leaned back against the bed suddenly feeling tired. "Devin calls her mom," she remarked quietly. "He says that she's been there for him and she kept his family together. And she does all this when she's never been there for me and my family's always been half missing."

Tristan put his arm around her shoulder and she leaned in gratefully, looking for comfort that she knew that he could provide.

"I don't know if I can forgive her, ever. I don't even know if I want to get to know her or her perfect new family." She paused. "I have a sister, did I tell you?"

He shook his head.

"She's almost four. I might meet her but I'm not sure yet. You know, she's just another reminder of Lorelai and I really don't need another of those. Besides if I met her then I would have to go to their house and that would be awkward."

Tristan grinned. "And when have you been afraid of awkward situations?"

She laughed, nudging him with her shoulder, glad that this conversation was over and the tension had dispersed. Leaning over she kissed him, moving slightly so that she got a better angle and putting her hands around his neck. He kissed her back, running his hands down her sides until they hit her waist where they remained.

It was half an hour later that they broke apart for the thousandth time.

"Tristan!" Rory squealed laughing as he tried to pull her closer when she was trying to move farther apart. "It's late; my dad will be worried."

"So call him," Tristan mumbled smirking slightly, kissing from her ear to her neck.

"And tell him what? 'Sorry daddy, but I'm spending the night at my boyfriend's house so we can celebrate our getting back together.' I was born when he was sixteen; he's not stupid."

He finally released her, sighing dramatically. "Fine." He sighed again, looking at Rory pathetically.

"No Tristan." Rory stood up from the floor, ignoring his pouting look. "Let's go."

Tristan smirked and put his hands behind his head, leaning back. "That's right; I'm your ride home. Without me you can't go anywhere." He patted the space next to him. "You can sit back down because you're not going anywhere for a while."

It was close to an hour later that Tristan dropped her off at her house.

"Thanks for the ride." She leaned over and kissed him and wasn't surprised when he deepened it.

"No problem. I'll call you tomorrow and we can… do something," he said suggestively.

Rory giggled. "Mind out of the gutter Dugrey."

She hopped out of the car before he could reply and made her way to the front door, waving at him as she walked into the house.

Rory was almost walking on air as she tiptoed her way past her father's dark room and arrived at her bedroom. Maybe everything wasn't perfect right now and maybe her situation with her mom would never get completely sorted out but for now she was happy. Her thoughts jumped to Tristan and their reunion. She had been surprised that they had gotten back together so quickly, even though it had seemed like they had been apart for ages. She shouldn't have been surprised though; Rory had wanted Tristan and Haydens always got what they want.

As she slid between her warm sheets, she realized that for the first time, she was actually looking towards the future with a guy that wasn't her dad or Logan and it didn't scare her. She still wasn't completely comfortable with thinking that far ahead, a month or two at the most but she was getting there and that was all that matters.


	13. Caricature of Intimacy

AN: Thanks for the great response from the last chapter! I'm not really happy with how this chapter turned out but whatever. Only 2 more left (no including this one)! I know that the chapter title has nothing to do with the chapter but I've recently become obsessed with Panic At the Disco haha. Thanks for reading!

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It was big news the next morning when Tristan Dugrey and Rory Hayden walked in together arm in arm, reunited. Everyone had known that the two of them had disappeared from the party on Friday night, but other than that no one had imparted any further knowledge on their whereabouts. It hadn't really come as a surprise to anyone who knew the couple which was suddenly the majority of the student body. 

Rory piled books into her locker trying to ignore Tristan who was leaning against the locker next to hers and smirking.

"Come on, you know you want to."

"Nope I don't."

"Yes you do."

"Do not."

"Do too."

"Do not!"

"Do too!"

"Ahh, a perfect example of the fine education that Chilton provides their students with," Logan said, interrupting their debate.

"He's being a jerk," Rory defended herself, jerking a thumb in Tristan's direction and pouting.

Tristan laughed. "Am not."

"Are too!"

Logan rolled his eyes. "Is this some kind of foreplay for you guys? 'Cause if it is, I'm leaving."

"Don't worry, I'm leaving anyway," Rory picked up her books and flounced down the hall, aware that half of the students were now gossiping about the fact that she didn't kiss Tristan good-bye.

"What was that all about?" Logan turned to Tristan who was still leaning against the locking, smirking.

He sighed at the question. "I have to run an errand and I was going to do it now instead of after school, provided I could get Rory to skip the day with me but she won't."

"Rory's missing an opportunity to skip school? That's unheard of!"

Tristan laughed, knowing that this was true. "I know but apparently she has a test and the school has already called home a couple times about her lack of attendance in her classes and so she feels like she has to go."

Logan nodded. "Makes sense." He paused, considering his options. "I'll tell you what, I have terrible classes today; I'll go with you."

"You want to hang out with me? You hate me."

Logan sighed. "I don't hate you; I just don't like the guys that Rory dates because I don't trust them not to hurt her." He brightened. "But you've already hurt her and redeemed yourself to her so I can learn to like you. Beside if you do hurt her again; it's easier to know some details before I make your life miserable."

"That's some twisted logic but sure I'll take it."

They turned down the hall, walking towards the front doors on the way to the parking lot.

"So I heard that you once painted all the windows in your school black…"

Rory walked into her house later that day, kind of confused. She hadn't seen her best friend or her boyfriend since before school started that morning and no one had known where they had gone. After trying both their cell phones and discovering that they were off, she gave up and decided to concentrate on school, which was a first for her.

After putting down her backpack, she flopped down on her couch, turning on the TV and flipping through the channels. Finally landing on some mundane talk show, she picked up the phone and dialed the number to reach her voicemail. Finding that she had one new message, she pushed the button to play it and discovered that it was just the sound of someone hanging up. She growled frustrated and bored and threw herself back down on the couch preparing for a boring night.

"Rory?"

It was almost two hours later and Rory was now lying upside down on her couch watching the TV.

"Hey daddy!" She said cheerfully, sitting back up straight and feeling slightly dizzy from staying upside down for that long.

Chris crossed him arms and smiled, raising an eyebrow. "I can see that you had a productive afternoon."

"Well I learned what to do if I ever find out that my fiancé's really a girl who has been sleeping with my best friend's sister's cousin's husband's ex-best friend."

Chris looked at her nervously. "Did you learn what to do when your mother and her new family are coming to dinner tonight?"

Rory immediately snapped to attention, looking at her father with horror in her eyes. "They're coming here for dinner tonight?"

He nodded.

"What?" She stood up in anger. "You invited them over for dinner? I can't believe you!"

"She wants to spend time with you Rory."

"She should've spent time with me when I was growing up; not seventeen years later!"

"I thought that you were thinking about going over there to meet Rebecca. I thought that I was doing you a favor by having them meeting on your own turf."

"Well, you weren't!"

Chris took a deep breath. "I'm sorry, I wasn't thinking."

"That's right you weren't!"

"Can we just try to make this work? If you're too uncomfortable, you can fake that you have a test tomorrow or something."

Rory sighed. "I guess."

He smiled slightly. "Okay well they'll be here in about an hour."

"An hour? Wow short enough notice dad," she said sarcastically, making her way out of the room.

"Where are you going?" Chris called after her.

"To get ready for my night in hell!" She yelled back, halfway up the stairs.

As soon as she arrived at her room she flipped open her cell phone and was frantically dialing. So immersed in her anger, it took her multiple tries before she got the number right.

"Hey you've reached Tristan. I'm busy, you know the drill."

The beep sounded and Rory started talking. "Tristan Dugrey, where the hell have you been? I swear to god if you want our relationship to continue you will come to my house as soon as you get this message! I don't give a fuck as to what you're doing just get over here!"

She sighed as she pressed end and realized that she would actually have to go through with the dinner. Walking over to her closet she looked through all of her clothes trying to find something that screamed 'I'm having a reunion dinner with my absentee mother and her new family.' She found nothing. Finally setting on a pair of jeans and a clean shirt, she walked into her bathroom to do her make-up. When she was completely finished getting ready, she flopped down on her bed, wrinkling her shirt in the process.

Her eyes closed, her body completely relaxed, she immediately tensed up when the doorbell rang and she could hear her dad walking towards the door to answer it. Suddenly she wasn't ready for this, suddenly she didn't want to go through with it and she wondered whether she could make a quick escape. Sighing, she resolved herself to her fate and, conjuring up courage that she didn't know existed, she stood up and made her way out of the room and down the stairs.

"Hi," she called when she reached the bottom of the stairs, causing the people congregated in the hall way to turn and look at her. She smiled at Devin and Rebecca but ignored looking at either Lorelai or her husband.

"Hi," Lorelai replied, her voice sounding strangled. Her husband put a hand on her arm reassuringly.

"I don't think you guys have been introduced, have you?" Chris jumped in, looking awkwardly at the group around him. "Rory this is Charlie, Lorelai's husband and Rebecca, their daughter. You know Lorelai and Devin."

"It's nice to meet you guys." Rory smiled sweetly at her step-brother and half-sister. "Yeah, it's good to see you again Devin." She turned to face Lorelai. "I'm sorry; I don't remember ever meeting you." Lorelai visibly flinched at Rory's words.

"Rory!" Chris was appalled. He had known that Rory had strong feelings about Lorelai's absence but he hadn't thought that she would be so blunt about it.

"Yes daddy?" She knew that she was being a spoiled brat but at the moment she didn't care.

Chris shook his head. "I'm sorry," he said to Lorelai making Rory scowl. Her mother didn't deserve any apologies.

Lorelai shook her head. "Don't be."

There was an awkward silence for a moment and Rory took the time to look over the Martin family. They looked perfect; like a real family and she felt her heart clench, wondering for the first time in years what life would have been like if her mother had stuck around. For a moment she went back to what she was like when she was younger, feeling vulnerable and she hated it. Any thoughts of going through this ordeal in a civilized manner were thrown out the window.

"So, Rory, I hear you go to school with Devin?" Charlie asked, looking intensely at Rory, who stared right back.

"Yes Devin does go to school with me."

Charlie nodded. Everyone looked around uncomfortably, not looking each other in the eye except for Rebecca who stared at Rory curiously from behind her father's legs.

"Dinner should be here soon; I ordered it almost half an hour ago." Almost as soon as Chris had stopped speaking the door bell rang.

"I'll get it!" Rory said, already making her way towards the door eager to escape the situation that she currently found herself in.

Opening the door and grabbing the money from the hall table, she was surprised to be met with Logan's and Tristan's faces instead of the delivery boy.

"Hey!" She said, leaning forward to give Tristan a kiss. "What are you guys doing here, together?"

"We hung out today and then Tristan checked his voicemail and you sounded desperate and so we headed over here immediately."

"So what's up?" Tristan's eyes were concerned. "Anything wrong?"

"Rory! Have you got the food yet?" Chris shouted from the other room.

"No!" She called back, before turning back to her new favorite people on the planet and smiling and lowering her voice. "My mom's here with her new family for dinner." Logan and Tristan both looked sympathetic as she continued. "Can you guys stay and run interference, please?" She widened her eyes pathetically and jutted out her lower lip.

The boys exchanged looks. "Yeah, of course we'll do it," Tristan said, putting his arms around his girlfriend's waist.

"And we'll think of something to get us out of here early," Logan chimed in. Rory beamed, thankful that she had these great guys in her life.

"I knew I kept the two of you around for a reason."

She grabbed both of their hands, dragging them into the other room where her family was still standing looking at each other uneasily. Everybody looked up as Rory walked back in pulling the two boys behind her.

"Look who showed up!" Her voice was overly bright, her smile a little too relieved but nobody commented on it.

"Hey Logan, Tristan," Chris greeted, not entirely surprised that the boys had just happened to show up.

"Hey Chris."

"What's up?"

Chris laughed. "Not much Logan." He looked at the Martin family. "This is Rory's best friend Logan and her boyfriend Tristan. Boys this is Rory's mother Lorelai, her husband Charlie, his son Devin and their daughter Rebecca."

"Nice to meet you," the boys said in unison, looking at each other bewildered after they did so.

"Wow, you guys spend one day together and already you're thinking alike," Rory commented sarcastically as Tristan slid an arm around her waist.

Logan nodded to Devin. "Good to see you again, been awhile."

Devin just looked at him. "You haven't been in class for the last couple of days and so that would explain the whole not seeing each other thing."

Chris laughed patting Logan on the shoulder. "Always a troublemaker aren't you Huntzberger? Corrupting my poor innocent daughter."

He snorted in response. "Your daughter has never been poor and I'm not even going to comment on the innocent factor. And besides if anyone is corrupting your daughter it's him," he said, jerking a thumb towards Tristan who was rubbing his thumb against Rory's waist.

"Who me?" He looked up innocently, prompting awkward laughter from the surrounding group of people.

The doorbell rang and Logan started towards the door, waving away what Chris was about to say. "Don't worry Chris; I know where you keep your takeout money supply."

"Actually I was about to tell you how nice it was that you offered to pay for dinner."

Ten minutes later everybody was seated around the dining room table, picking at their food.

"So how old are you Rebecca?" Rory asked kindly, looking down at her shy half-sister.

"We call her Becky and she's four," Lorelai said proudly, smoothing back her daughter's fine hair.

"Was I asking you?" Rory asked snidely.

"Rory," Chris groaned exasperated. He should have known that this dinner wasn't a good idea that everything wouldn't work out to be fine.

Charlie threw down his fork. "What is your problem?" He asked, looking at Rory. "My wife has been nothing but kind to you and in no way does she deserve to be treated like this."

Rory also slammed down her fork. "Excuse me? She doesn't deserve to be treated like this? She abandoned me! She left and then suddenly seventeen years she wants to be part of my life? It doesn't work that way!" She slid her chair back and stood up abruptly. "I'm not hungry anymore."

She ran out of the room and the occupants of the dining room could hear her door slamming.

"So how about that global economy, eh?" Logan commented after a minute of silence, receiving annoyed looks in response.

"I'll go check on her," Tristan said, placing his knife and fork calmly on his plate and standing up. Chris nodded his approval looking apologetically at the Martins.

"I'm sorry for Rory, really." He shook his head. "I don't know what's gotten into her lately."

Logan snorted. "C'mon," he said in response to the looks he was receiving. "You know exactly what has gotten into her lately." He started ticking off things with his fingers. "Her and her boyfriend broke up, only getting back together a couple days ago, you and her stopped talking for almost a month and she's almost failing all of her classes because she's been distracted." Casually wiping his mouth, he threw down his napkin and stood up. "If you'll excuse me, I'm going to go check on Rory."

He arrived at Rory's bedroom to see Rory with her head nestled against Tristan's chest. Taking in the scene in front of him, he realized that maybe he wouldn't be Rory's only protector from now on and maybe that wouldn't be such a bad thing.

Clearing his throat to get their attention, he smiled. "You guys want to get out of here?"

It was late when Rory stumbled into her room trying to find her way in the dark. She didn't bother turning on the lights even after she had closed the door, wanting the darkness surrounding her as she did what she felt she had to do. She flipped open her phone and dialed the number that was written on the piece of paper in front of her. It went straight to voicemail which is what she had intended.

"Hey, you've reached Lorelai Martin. I'm busy at the moment but I'll get back to you if you leave a message."

The beep sounded and Rory took a deep breath. "Hi Lorelai, it's Rory. You're probably sleeping right now considering it's" she snuck a look at her clock "2:37 and most sane people are in bed right now." She paused, trying to find the words. "I just wanted to say that I understand why you left and that I know that you felt like you had to." Her words started to jumble together, caught up in emotion. "And I don't hate you for it; I can't no matter how hard I've tried." Taking another deep breath she continued. "But we're never going to be okay; we're never going to get along. Somewhere along the way we've become totally different people who have nothing in common except for blood and I think that's the way it'll stay." Tears were streaming down her face as she finished, choking on a sob. "You have a beautiful family Lorelai."

She hung up the phone and leaned against her bed. It might have been the coward's way out but somehow it had felt right. She sat there for hours, silently crying, comforted in the anonymity of the darkness and at the end of it all, she felt better, as if everything was going to be okay.

Almost a month later, everything was going great for Rory. She and Tristan were going great, Logan and Tristan had begun to get along and she was doing better in her classes. Devin pretty much ignored her now, but she was sure that it was all for the best. Lorelai hadn't contacted her after her message but she had expected that she wouldn't. Her life seemed to be perfect and so of course something needed to happen to mess with it a little.

Rory walked into her home, going directly for the living room and froze in shock at the door. The boxes that had remained in the back of closets for the last couple months had now been taken out and strewn around the room.

"Dad!" She yelled, dropping her backpack on the floor.

"Hey kiddo," he said coming through the door behind her.

"What's all this?" Her voice was strangled as she gestured towards the boxes lying on the floor.

Chris took a deep breath. "I got this amazing job opportunity. It would be career suicide if I decided not to take it. So I took it."

"Where is it?" Her voice was calm but inside she was filled with turmoil.

"Vancouver."

"As in Vancouver Washington?"

"Nope, we're moving to Vancouver Canada."

"You're moving me to another country?"

"It's a great opportunity," Chris insisted again, as he always did.

Rory was in complete disbelief. She couldn't believe that her dad was moving her to a different country. They had spent six months in London when she was ten but somehow it seemed like it was a bigger deal now. Her mind could only form one question and so she asked, "When do we leave?"

"We have to be there by next Friday."

"That's in five days!"

"I know I know that it's short notice but I have to take it; I have to." Chris' voice was desperate, trying to get Rory to understand.

Rory nodded. "Okay," she whispered, trying to figure out why she was so surprised by the move. For years she had been used to moving at a moment's notice, packing up her life and moving on. It was normal, it was routine but now it felt like it was the worse possible thing to happen to her. "I'll go start packing."


	14. Choosing the Road

Rory spent all that night packing and all the next day avoiding Tristan. She dodged him at school, making sure that she didn't stay at her locker long, knowing that he would find her eventually and that she would have to explain. Rory was a master at avoiding the inevitable.

She didn't know what to do about Tristan. Did she ask him to have a long-distance relationship with her? Knowing that it never worked out, she was hesitant to go down that road, to hold on to something that would eventually fall apart. She knew that she couldn't just end the relationship; Tristan wouldn't accept that, he wouldn't let it go. And so that only left one option; avoid him until she could come up with a plan that would result in no one getting hurt, in everything staying the same. Rory sighed as she realized that that would never happen.

It was at the end of the day on her way towards the parking lot that Logan caught up with her.

"Hey!" He called to her rapidly retreating form. She turned and stopped, waiting for him to catch up. Taking one look at her, he immediately knew what was wrong. Rory always had the same look when her dad announced that they were moving and she was wearing it now. His shoulders slumped slightly. "Where?"

Rory almost smiled at Logan's ability to read her. "Canada."

"Canada? You've got to be fucking kidding me!"

She shook her head. "Nope, I wish I was."

"Can he do this? Can you move so late senior year? Won't that mess you up for graduation?"

She shrugged. "Apparently he made a deal with the principal of the school that I'm going to be attending and they arranged everything so that it all works out."

Logan nodded. "If there's one thing that our parents have in common it's that they have the ability to always get their way." He waited a beat before adding, "Have you told Tristan yet?"

"No."

Again he nodded, knowing that it would be best if he didn't push the subject. He put a casual arm around her shoulders and squeezed gently. "This sucks, what about all of our plans? We were going to actually graduate together; I never thought that that would happen."

"I know." Her voice was quiet, her posture was resigned. "But in the fall we'll be at college, right? It'll be the two of us and nobody will stop that."

"Huntzberger and Hayden against the world." He grinned for a second before a serious look took over. "But should Dugrey be added in there as well?" He asked his voice quiet.

Rory looked away. "I don't know."

Logan didn't say anything knowing that words weren't necessary, that words wouldn't work this time. He just pulled Rory closer as they walked in silence.

Rory didn't know what she was doing or what she was going to say. Having finally decided to talk to Tristan, she had jumped in her car and drove to his house and was sitting in her car trying to convince herself to leave its confines. She knew that he would be mad because of her avoidance of him but she didn't let that faze her. Her mind was still muddled and she was still confused; still stuck on that one questions racing through her mind. Should she continue things with Tristan or break them off?

Stepping out of the car, she nervously fixed her clothes and hair, making sure that she looked perfect. Sighing, she walked down the long driveway until she came to the elaborate door and knocked. A minute later Tristan opened it.

"Hey," he said, leaning against the door frame. "This is a surprise."

He was annoyed and Rory knew it but she chose to ignore it. "Hey!" She leaned forward to give him a kiss and tried not to look hurt when he pulled back after barely a second. "Are you going to let me in?"

Moving out of the way, he gestured for her to go inside. Wordlessly she followed him down the hall and up the stairs until they reached his room. He closed the door behind them and turned to face her.

"Why were you avoiding me today?" His voice was quiet and serious.

Rory shrugged and looked away. She knew that this moment really was the deciding point in their relationship. She could make up a lie and walk away, never seeing him again or tell the truth and hope that he would be willing to do the long distance thing. This moment was the moment that Rory had been dreading forever. Having done the lying part too many times to count and having walked away unscarred every time, that option was looking better.

But that option didn't give her what she really wanted. That option didn't give her Tristan.

"Rory." His voice was almost pleading and it broke her heart. "What happened? Did I do something?"

Rory could feel the words coming, after so many years they had started to come automatically. "You didn't do something, I did."

Tristan looked at her confused. "I don't understand. Why were you avoiding me?"

Feeling tired and drained, she continued the speech that she had memorized long ago. "I made a mistake." She took a deep breath, not meeting his eyes before she continued. "I went out the other night and had too much to drink. I met this guy and one thing led to another."

Tristan took a step back and Rory could physically as well as emotionally feel him pull back from her. "What?" He whispered.

"I-I…" She suddenly didn't want to continue, didn't want to go down the road that she had traveled so many times before. Sitting down on Tristan's bed, she looked at him, trying not to let the tears fall. "I'm moving." He didn't say anything. "I moving to Canada, my dad got transferred."

"And so you cheated on me?" His voice was low and dangerous.

"I wanted you to hate me, you need to hate me." Tears were falling down her face now.

"I could never hate you Rory, despite what you just told me." He paused, thinking over her words. "Why do you want me to hate you?"

"If I just told you that I was moving you would insist on a long-distance relationship and I couldn't handle it if it ended. It's so much easier just to end it now."

"So you didn't cheat on me?"

Mutely she shook her head.

"You lied so that I'd break up with you?"

Again she shook her head.

"You're an idiot Rory." She looked up insulted, ready to fight. "God don't you think that I have some say in this? That I'm part of this relationship and therefore get to decided when and where it ends?"

"You'll find someone new after I leave; its better this way."

He laughed bitterly. "Do you really think so low of me?"

"That's how life works, nobody's perfect, everyone makes mistakes. I don't want to get my heart broken because you made a mistake."

"Oh yeah so it's better that I get my heart broken because you're too goddamn scared to be with me?" He asked sarcastically and Rory shrunk back. "You mean a lot to me Rory." His voice was quiet. "I wouldn't hurt you, it doesn't matter if you're in another country or not."

"How do I know that, Tristan?" She wiped the tears from her face.

"Faith, Rory. You have to trust and have faith in me."

She looked at him for a moment, thinking over her options. "I do trust you," she said, smiling as he stepped closer to her.

"Okay," he murmured, running a hand down her cheek. "Just don't do this again, okay? Come and talk to me instead of making assumptions."

She nodded. "Okay."

Tristan looked down at her, an idea popping into his mind. "Move in with me."

"What?"

"Move in with me, we can get an apartment together." His voice was desperate. He knew that she wouldn't accept but she felt like she had to try anyway.

Rory laughed softly, sliding her hands around his waist. "We can't Tristan, I know it and you know it."

He sighed. "Yeah I know."

"But it was sweet of you to offer it anyway."

Leaning up to kiss him, it suddenly didn't matter that they would be separated soon, that everything was about to change. All that mattered was the feeling that went through Rory as he kissed her back and pushed her back on the bed. Everything else could wait.

The days until Chris and Rory moved passed in a blur of boxes and packing. Her last day of school was spent ignoring the victorious smirks of all the girls interested in Tristan and packing up her locker.

"I can't believe you're leaving," Abby whined for the thousandth time that day.

"I know," Rory whined back, throwing another notebook into the box sitting at her feet. Abby and Alex had been following her around for the majority of the day and although at first she had thought that it was sweet, it was fast becoming annoying.

"Hey," Tristan said, appearing at Rory's elbow. "Ready to go?"

"Yeah," she replied, closing her locker for the last time. Even though it was stupid, she would miss spending five minutes every morning attempting to open her locker.

"I'll miss you." Abby grinned at Rory and gave her a hug. "Be sure to keep in touch."

She hugged her back saying, "Of course I'll keep in touch." This was a lie; Rory never kept in touch.

Alex leaned over, kissing Rory on the cheek. "Try to get kicked out of your new school so that you can come back here," he said smirking.

She laughed, happy that someone was breaking the sappy mood that had taken over in the last couple of minutes. "I'll try," she promised.

Tristan picked up the box sitting at Rory's feet, grunting a little at the weight. They walked down the hall with Rory grinning and waving at people who said good-bye to her. As they walked out the front doors, she paused for a moment.

"You know what?" She asked, looking up at the looming building in front of her.

"What?"

"I think that I'm actually going to miss this place."

Tristan didn't say anything in response; instead he slipped his free arm around her waist, comforting her with more than just words.

Rory arrived home to see the familiar sight of boxes lining the room and halls. Lugging the box full of her locker items behind her, she walked into the kitchen. The house was empty, her dad still packing up his office at work and so Rory got back to putting their dishes into boxes. She spent the rest of her afternoon reflecting on memories that coincided with the objects she was packing.

It was late the eve before she moved that Rory tiptoed past her dad's room and down the stairs. She didn't worry after the car waking her father up, knowing that as soon as she passed his room she would be safe. Backing out of the driveway, she turned and headed towards a house that she had become very familiar with the last couple months.

She parked on the street, not wanting to wake the occupants of the house. Slipping around the side of the house until she came directly under a familiar window, she picked up a pebble that she had found on the road. Tossing it lightly against the second story window, she waited for a response.

The window slip open and Tristan's head slid out, his face looking confused until his eyes adjusted to the darkness and he could make out Rory standing below.

He smirked, leaning against the window frame. "Isn't it supposed to be the guy that comes throwing stones at someone's window in the middle of the night?"

Rory smirked back. "It is but my man isn't man enough to do so."

He laughed in response. "You know how manly I can be," he said suggestively.

"Maybe you should invite me up so you can show me."

Rory laughed as he quickly disappeared from the window. She walked around until she came to the front of the house, waiting in the shadows until she saw Tristan opening the door. Stepping into the hall and giving him a light kiss, she followed him up the stairs and into his room, not saying a word in fear of his parents hearing her.

When at last they reached his room and closed the door behind him, she stepped closer to him, giving him a deeper kiss than the one that he received at the door.

"What are you doing here?" He murmured against her lips.

"What, are you complaining?" she teased. He kissed her in response. When at last they had broke apart, she pulled back a little, looking him in the eye and shrugging slightly. "I don't want the big airport scene tomorrow so I thought that we could have our own private good-bye session tonight."

"So this is the last time I'll see you in God knows how long?"

"Yup."

He smirked. "Better make it worth while then," he said, backing her up towards the bed.

Rory left in the early hours of the morning. She tried not to cry on the drive home but was unsuccessful. She didn't know when she would see Tristan again or what would be in store in the future for them and she hated that; she hated not knowing. Sighing, she pulled into her driveway and turned off the ignition, just sitting there in silence for a moment. Her life was changing again and this time she wasn't sure if she could keep up with it all.

Rory and Chris arrived alone at the airport, both having said all their good-byes earlier as to avoid the awkward scene that was inevitable at the airport. They went through the now familiar process of checking baggage and going through security. This was routine for them and even though Rory hated going through it now, it was almost a relief that everything was going back to normal before she had moved to Hartford.

Rory stared down at the clouds below her as the plane took her to her new home. She knew that she and Tristan weren't over and that while in some ways things would change, others would stay the same. No matter how far apart they were, they would find a way to be together, even if it was only for a little while, an interlude in an otherwise harsh reality. She sighed, leaning back into her seat and watched the world pass her by.

When they arrived at their condo it was raining rather heavily. The condo itself was of average size, bigger than some places that they had lived in but smaller than others. None of their stuff was there yet and it would take a couple days for it to arrive. As Rory stood in her empty bedroom watching the dreary outside world, she wondered what this city would have in hold for her. So immersed was she in her thoughts that she didn't notice when her dad walked into the room until he slung an affectionate arm around her shoulders.

They stood there for a moment in silence, listening to the rain hitting the roof and thinking about all that they had left behind. Finally Chris spoke.

"This time we're staying here. This is it," he said as he always did. It had somehow become a twisted Hayden tradition of some sorts. His voice held a hint of desperation in it which Rory ignored.

"Yup, this is it," she replied as she always did, forever the dutiful daughter.


	15. Epilogue

AN: I'm done! Surprised? I know I was when I finished. This story turned out so much different than expected. In my first version of the story Rory met her mother at a dinner with her grandparents, she slept with Logan after the dinner, Tristan found out and slept with this other girl and then Rory found out, got upset and got in a screaming, crying match with Lorelai and in the end she and Tristan are on and off again until he finally gets himself sent to military school and their relationship ends. That was my plan until I started typing and then this came out instead. Funny how that works out, isn't it? Anyway, I'm done rambling now. So until next time.. hope you enjoy this chapter!

* * *

Rory crept to the back of the crowd unseen. The people milling around moved to take their seats but she didn't join them, opting to stand in the back instead. Leaning back against a pillar, she closed her eyes as the headmaster talked; after her long flight she was exhausted. She opened them when she heard Paris Gellar start her valedictorian speech and she smiled slightly. The girl might not have been very personable but she sure knew how to captivate an audience. 

She fidgeted when the headmaster went back up to the podium until she realized that he was going to call the graduates up to receive their diplomas. Straightening up and smiling, she looked at the robe clad group looking for a familiar blond head. She frowned when she didn't see him.

"Tristan Dugrey." The headmaster finally called and Rory smiled as he emerged from the seated students and went up on stage. He didn't see her as he got his diploma and sat back down as quick as possible and yet Rory smiled.

Remaining at the back unnoticed by most, she waited until after Logan was called and had seen her before she slipped out and walked to the parking lot. She didn't feel like watching all the graduates receive their diplomas; she had already been through that at her own graduation in Vancouver.

Her transition from school to school hadn't been difficult. She hadn't concentrated on making friends; instead she made sure that she had the marks to graduate and to get into a decent college. Having spent the last couple of months friendless and alone, she was happy to be back to Tristan and Logan, people who she could relax around.

It was almost an hour later that people began walking around the Chilton campus. Rory didn't move, knowing that she would eventually see Tristan and Logan. She talked to a couple students that she knew that stopped by when they had recognized her.

"Rory!" She heard and she turned around only to be met with Abby's smiling face.

"Hey!" She replied, slightly uneasy. She didn't know if Abby would be upset that she hadn't kept in touch when she had moved.

Abby reached forward and pulled Rory into a hug. "You're back?"

"Just for graduation."

She laughed. "Of course, I mean you couldn't leave your men to graduate without you."

"Maybe I came back for you."

"Sorry honey, I don't swing that way."

Rory laughed and pretended to pout. "Aw, shot down again. I guess I'm stuck with Tristan." She noticed an approaching figure. "Or hey, there's Alex. He's kind of cute."

Abby laughed. "I don't share."

"I don't care," she teased, laughing.

Abby laughed and looked at something behind Rory. She sighed. "My parents want me; we're supposed to go to lunch." She leaned forward and hugged Rory quickly. "I'll see you around, okay?" Rory nodded even though both of them knew that they would never see each other again.

"Hayden!" Rory heard from behind her and she quickly turned, recognizing the voice.

"Huntzberger!" She hugged him, holding on for a moment longer than she normally would; she had really missed Logan.

"What are you doing here?" A wide grin appeared on his face.

She nudged him in the shoulder. "I couldn't miss seeing you in a dress of course."

"Excuse me?" He said, mock indignantly. "I'll have you know that this is a robe, not a dress."

Rory laughed. "Does 'robe' not mean 'dress' en Français?"

He glared. "You're mean today."

"Long flight."

"Ahh," he replied as if everything suddenly made sense. "C'mon, I'm guessing that you want to go find Dugrey."

Rory sighed as if it were a lot that he was asking from her. "Well, I suppose if I have to."

Logan slung a friendly arm around her shoulders, pulling her close. "You have to." He laughed. "You guys are the most annoying couple ever. I never thought that long-distance fighting would be worse than when the two of you are fighting with me there."

Rory just laughed in response. She and Tristan had had their share of fights in the last months; their relationship was never easy. She had contemplated ending it a couple times but had always decided not to at the last minute and she was glad that she did. Logan had gotten his share of phone calls from her complaining about Tristan; she couldn't blame him for getting annoyed about it.

"Does he know that I'm here?" She asked after a moment. They still hadn't caught sight of Tristan yet.

"If he knew that you were here you would have seen him ten minutes ago. Hell, he probably would've run out of the ceremony for you." He paused for a moment. "It's sickening, that's what it is."

Rory was about to reply but that was when she saw Tristan standing in a group of new graduates, laughing at something someone had just said. Grinning, she stepped away from Logan and sped up slightly. Finally she was right behind Tristan and she moved to the right and stepped forward until she was part of the group.

"Hey guys, what's going on?"

Tristan looked at her in shock; he definitely didn't expect to see her here. Immediately his arms were around her waist and his lips were on hers. Rory pulled apart after a minute and laughed.

"So, I guess you missed me?"

He shook his head, unable to keep the grin off of his face. "Nope, not at all," he replied, leaning in to kiss her again, not caring about the group of people standing awkwardly around them. They broke apart a minute later and stood staring into each others eyes until Logan cleared his throat.

"Well, I'm out of here." He sighed dramatically. "I just thought that my best friend in the whole wide world would want to say good-bye to me before I left."

Rory laughed and left Tristan's comforting embrace to give Logan a hug. "I'll miss you Huntzberger."

He rolled his eyes. "I'll see you tomorrow at the airport."

"You started the whole dramatic good-bye bit; I was just playing my roll."

"Bye Rory."

She just laughed as she watched Logan walk away and turned back towards Tristan, putting her arms around his middle. She looked up when she realized that he wasn't responding and putting his hands on her waist like he usually did.

"What's wrong?"

"What does he mean by airport, Rory?"

"Airport, um, generally a place where planes take off and land?" She looked at him confused, not seeing why he was getting so bent out of shape over Logan mentioning an airport.

"I know what an airport is," he replied rolling his eyes. "What I don't know is why you are seeing Logan at one tomorrow."

"We're going to Europe together this summer." She bent her head, looking to his eyes. "Didn't I tell you that?"

They had wandered away from the group while they talked and were now in an isolated corner. Rory leaned casually against the wall, crossing her arms over her chest.

"No, you didn't." His voice was even, his face blank.

"Seriously?" She paused looking thoughtful. "I could have sworn I had told you."

"Well you didn't." Tristan looked upset and he backed up from Rory slightly.

"Sorry." She assessed his face for a minute. "I don't get what's the big deal though; Logan and I have planned this trip for like ever."

"You could have told me."

"I thought I had."

"And that makes it better?"

"No Tristan, it doesn't make it better but I don't understand why you're so mad. We'll see each other when I get back."

He sighed, shaking his head exasperatedly. "And when's that?"

"Beginning of August." She looked everywhere but at him.

"You're fucking kidding me! You're leaving for over a month and you couldn't be bothered to tell me?"

"I thought I had! I don't get what the big deal is. I leave and then come back and we'll spend the rest of the summer together."

"The big deal is that you didn't tell me! Maybe I had plans for the two of us this summer."

"Did you?"

"Does it matter now?"

Rory leaned her head back against the wall behind her. "We're always going to fight, aren't we?" She asked softly, looking into his eyes.

Tristan nodded. "Probably." He paused. "Don't change the subject."

She sighed. "This is stupid." She stood up straight and started walking away. "I don't want to fight over this; I don't want us to be one of those couples." She turned towards Tristan, gently touching his hand. "I'm leaving tomorrow at four; I'd really like it if you were at the airport to see me off." Leaning forward, she kissed him gently on the mouth. "Bye Tristan." She didn't know whether this good-bye would be permanent or not, all she knew was that she hated saying it.

Rory looked down at the clouds before her and sighed, leaning her head against the cool glass of the window. She could see Logan watching her worriedly from the seat to her left but she ignored him, not wanting sympathy. Tristan hadn't shown up at the airport, he hadn't called and so obviously he didn't care. Tears came to her eyes but she blinked them away furiously, not wanting to show weakness in public.

"It'll be okay," Logan murmured, laying a comforting hand on her shoulder, making Rory want to start to cry.

"I know," she replied, wanting to be brave, wanting to not care. The problem was that she did care and it hurt like hell.

It was noon, she was in Paris and yet Rory was sitting in her hotel room, the same place that she had been since she and Logan had arrived almost two days ago. Logan was out seeing the sites, meeting new people but she couldn't make herself get up and go out. He hadn't wanted to go, to leave her alone when she was like this but she had finally convinced him that she would be alright. That was lie; she felt worse than she could ever remember feeling.

Finally dragging herself out of bed, she made her way towards the shower, realizing that she shouldn't let her once in a life time trip be ruined by a boy. It didn't matter that this boy had unknowingly broke her heart or that it would all come crashing down when she arrived back in the States. Rory was determined to make the most of this trip and determined Haydens were never anything short of successful in their endeavors.

She was in the midst of getting dressed when there came a knock on the door. Quickly slipping on a t-shirt and taking the towel that was wrapped around her hair off, she walked to the door and opened it revealing Tristan Dugrey standing there with a sheepish look on his face.

"I missed you by ten minutes," he said, wanting to touch her but knowing that she was mad at him. "I was going to be there, I promise."

Rory shrugged. "It's not a big deal; we're not a big deal."

He reached out and grabbed her arm. "That's not true, Rory. It was a big deal and I fucked it up and I'm sorry. I'm an idiot and I'm sorry, really sorry. Please say you'll forgive me."

"There's nothing to forgive." She backed up towards the room, effectively cutting off his hold on her. "Look, it was sweet of you to fly all the way out here just to apologize but it was unnecessary. We're obviously just one of those couples that are never going to work; that are destined to failure. We gave it our best shot, let's just cut our losses, okay?"

"No."

She turned around quickly. "It wasn't a yes or no question."

He smirked. "Yes, it was and I picked no. I don't want us to break up. We're not one of those couples; we've made it through so much already. We're good together, hell we're not perfect but who is?"

"I don't want to go through this again, Tristan. Can't you just leave?" Her voice was tired, defeated and he hated it.

Leaning forward he kissed her, long and slow. She responded, arching her back into him. They broke apart a minute later and he leaned his forehead against hers. "Do you really want me to leave?"

She looked into his eyes, weighing her options. When she spoke there was not hesitation in her voice. "No, stay."

"I will, I promise," he whispered, his breath against her mouth. He closed the space between them and kissed her again and they backed into her room together, closing the door behind them.

The future wasn't certain, their life wasn't arranged but somehow that made it better, more real. In the fall the two of them would be attending separate colleges, making it even harder for them to stay together. They didn't know if they would last forever, if everything would be okay but at that moment they didn't care. At that point in time everything was perfect; exactly as it was supposed to be, just the two of them.


End file.
